Did you know this fungus can make milk?!
Trichoderma is one of the most widely distributed and fastest growing fungi found throughout the world. This one happened to be growing on a decaying log I picked up in the Atlanta, Georgia area.
Although many mushroom growers will attest to this organism's ability to infect and destroy their harvests (especially commercial button mushroom growers), this species has many adaptations that make it incredibly useful in biotechnology and agriculture.
It can survive extreme conditions and high temperatures. It can protect plants from harmful fungal pathogens. And in addition to its ability to produce over 400 native secondary metabolites, it's fast rate of growth combined with the relative ease in expressing recombinant DNA make it a great platform for fermenting valuable proteins at scale.
As an example, Perfect Day's team engineered Trichoderma reesei to produce milk proteins for their incredible dairy-free ice cream product!
So much value from just one genus of fungus and we've only just scratched the surface of what's possible...I can't wait to explore it with you all.
Wishing you all a Very Happy New Year!
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7 сен 2024
