CIRM-CF mushrooms, champions of industrial decontamination

CIRM-CF is the BRC dedicated to filamentous fungi, both macro- and micro-mycetes, of biotechnological interest. The collection is mainly composed of strains of saprotrophic species growing on plant materials in a natural environment, but also includes strains from polluted agro-industrial sites. Certified ISO 9001 since 2006 for the acquisition, authentication, conservation, dissemination and functional screening of fungal resources, CIRM-CF aims for a high level of quality for its collection, which today includes almost 3,000 strains, characterized at both phenotypic and molecular levels.

Safeguarding fungal heritage to develop bio-innovation

Every year, CIRM-CF organizes or takes part in collecting operations in natural environments, with the mycological experts of the Société mycologique de France (SMF). Specimens collected in mainland France and overseas (French Guiana, Martinique, Guadeloupe, etc.) are identified and isolated in situ. In addition to these collections, strains can also be deposited directly by professional or amateur mycologists. CIRM-CF also safeguards "endangered" collections from various institutes, such as the repatriation to CIRM-CF of INRAE's heritage collections of Agarics (Button Mushrooms) and Toxigenic Fusarium.

Developing bioprocesses from renewable resources

To date, CIRM-CF strains are part of research programs in a wide variety of fields, including biorefinery, development of biocontrol solutions, bio-pollution of soils or effluents, biomaterials...

Delphine Chaduli, Assistant Engineer at CIRM-CF, presents in the video below an application of the research undertaken by CIRM-CF and UMR INRAE BBF, in the field of biorefineries and in particular the production of second-generation (2G) bioethanol.

Characterizing fungal strains for their biotechnological potential

Fungal biotechnologies are set to play a key role in the emergence of the bioeconomy, particularly in solving pollution problems linked to human activities. Because they preserve biological diversity, CRBs are seen as essential infrastructures to support the development of biotechnological solutions. It is in this context that the CIRM-CF BRC embarked in 2017 on a vast program of functional characterization of its resources.

To date, over 1,000 fungal strains have been phenotyped for their growth and degradation potential vis-à-vis five industrial, man-made compounds that are particularly recalcitrant to enzymatic degradation.

The results obtained have enabled us to draw up a functional map of the phylogenetic diversity of the Basidiomycota and Ascomycota, providing a valuable tool for selecting fungal taxa to be tested for specific biotechnological applications. In addition, functional diversity at all taxonomic levels, including intraspecific, has been demonstrated. This work has just been published in August 2021, under the title "Large-scale phenotyping of 1,000 fungal strains for the degradation of non-natural, industrial compounds", in the Nature group journal "Communications Biology".

As well as demonstrating the enormous potential of filamentous fungi, the results of the CIRM-CF study show the value of targeted functional exploration in adapting effective biotechnological solutions to the problems of ecosystem pollution.

Contacts : David Navarro, Anne Favel, Bastien Bissaro