Auditorium

Fungi are key organisms in the biosphere with major roles in organic matter decomposition, element cycling, plant pathogenicity and symbioses in aquatic and terrestrial habitats. The vast majority exhibit a filamentous, branching growth form and are aerobic, deriving carbon and energy from organic substances, and particularly associated with soil, the plant-root zone, and rock surfaces. Wherever fungi are found, transformations of metals and minerals are a key component of their activity, with biomineralization an important feature. Fungal biomineralization is an important facet of geomycology, i.e. the roles of fungi in geochemical, geological and geophysical processes. Biomineralization can be loosely defined as the production of minerals by living organisms and found across all Domains of Life. Fungal biomineralization is not directly controlled and results from metabolic activities altering their external environment to favour mineral precipitation, such as changes in pH, O2, redox transformations of metal species, and excretion of organic and inorganic metabolites, e.g. CO2, H+, or organic acids, as well as mineral nucleation on cell walls. Biometallization, i.e., biological production of elemental forms of metals, e.g. Ag, and metalloids, e.g. Se, Te, is also increasingly discussed in a biomineralization context. The most common fungal biominerals are oxides, carbonates, and phosphates, with a particular association of oxalates with fungi, the best-known being calcium oxalate. This lecture will highlight the concept of fungal biomineralization, the production and significance of important fungal biominerals in natural and synthetic environments, and their applications in bioremediation, element biorecovery and nanobiotechnology.