Discovering the Biomechanics of Filamentous Fungi and their Hyphae

最近，人们对用于各种应用的真菌基和真菌启发材料的兴趣激增，例如环保包装和结构材料，纺织品和皮革替代品以及先进的过滤材料。这在很大程度上是由丝状真菌所具有的令人印象深刻的机械和结构特性以及它们被生产的潜力相结合所驱动的。尽管有这种兴趣，有一个显着缺乏了解的基本结构和力学，使丝状真菌提供其机械性能。该奖项支持丝状真菌及其细胞构建模块菌丝的生物力学基础研究，采用实验和理论相结合的方法。该知识库将为未来的真菌学、真菌启发材料和环境友好的真菌衍生材料的科学研究和商业投资提供基础。此外，该奖项将培养两名研究生和众多本科生研究人员，他们将获得宝贵的跨学科研究经验。该奖项还将直接资助STEM领域女性的教育和研究机会，以制作以科学和真菌学为重点的教育视频，旨在激励下一代女科学家。该奖项的目标是从细胞到宏观尺度对丝状真菌的生物力学进行基础研究。遗传相似的丝状真菌将在收获的（即，来源于它们的自然环境）和体外培养状态。这些分级研究将集中在宏观子实体（即，蘑菇）和微观菌丝（丝状真菌的细胞构建块）。在这两个长度尺度上，通过光学和电子显微镜，微型计算机断层扫描和聚焦离子束切片的微观结构分析将与通过能量色散X射线光谱，质谱和热重分析的化学分析相结合，以了解丝状真菌的结构。进一步的机械载荷试验将被进行，以了解丝状真菌的结构与性能的关系。这些实验结果将进行理论分析，以了解本构生物力学方程，管理丝状真菌的结构-力学性能的关系。对丝状真菌的多尺度生物力学理解将弥补未来基于真菌和真菌启发的材料设计的现有知识差距。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

There has been a recent explosion of interest in fungi-based and fungi-inspired materials for a variety of applications, such as environmentally friendly packaging and structural materials, textiles and leather alternatives, and advanced filtration materials. This has, in large part, been driven by the combination of the impressive mechanical and structural properties that filamentous fungi possess and the potential for them to be produced. Despite this interest, there is a significant lack of understanding on the fundamental structures and mechanics that allow filamentous fungi to provide their mechanical properties. This award supports the fundamental research into the biomechanics of filamentous fungi and their cellular building blocks, hyphae, using combined experimental and theoretical approaches. This knowledge base will provide a foundation for future scientific research and commercial ventures into mycology, fungi-inspired materials, and environmentally friendly fungi-derived materials. In addition, this award will train two graduate students and numerous undergraduate student researchers who will gain valuable interdisciplinary research experience. This award will also directly fund educational and research opportunities for women in STEM to produce science and mycology-focused educational videos with the goal of inspiring the next generation of women scientists.The objective of this award is to conduct basic research on the biomechanics of filamentous fungi from the cellular- to macro-scales. Genetically similar filamentous fungi will be tested in both a harvested (i.e., sourced from their natural environment) and in-vitro cultured states. These hierarchical studies will focus on both macroscopic sporocarps (i.e., mushrooms) and microscopic hyphae (the cellular building blocks of filamentous fungi). At both length scales, microstructural analysis through light and electron microscopy, micro-computed tomography, and focused ion beam sectioning will be combined with chemical analysis via energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and thermogravimetric analysis to understand the filamentous fungal structure. Further mechanical loading tests will be conducted to understand the structure-property relationships of filamentous fungi. These experimental results will be theoretically analyzed to understand the constitutive biomechanical equations that govern the structure-mechanical property relationships in filamentous fungi. The multiscale biomechanics understanding of the filamentous fungi will bridge the current knowledge gap in the future design of fungi-based and fungi-inspired materials.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.