Abstract
The EUROFUNG network is a virtual centre of multidisciplinary expertise in the field of fungal biotechnology. The first academic-industry Think Tank was hosted by EUROFUNG to summarise the state of the art and future challenges in fungal biology and biotechnology in the coming decade. Currently, fungal cell factories are important for bulk manufacturing of organic acids, proteins, enzymes, secondary metabolites and active pharmaceutical ingredients in white and red biotechnology. In contrast, fungal pathogens of humans kill more people than malaria or tuberculosis. Fungi are significantly impacting on global food security, damaging global crop production, causing disease in domesticated animals, and spoiling an estimated 10 % of harvested crops. A number of challenges now need to be addressed to improve our strategies to control fungal pathogenicity and to optimise the use of fungi as sources for novel compounds and as cell factories for large scale manufacture of bio-based products. This white paper reports on the discussions of the Think Tank meeting and the suggestions made for moving fungal bio(techno)logy forward.
Highlights
The knowledge-based bio-economy is critical for European growth and development and has been prioritized by the EC as a key area that will underpin long term sustainable growth [1]
The proportion of chemicals produced by biotechnology will increase significantly within a generation, with biotechnology products expected to dominate the speciality chemicals sector by 2030
Industry has become repositories of key knowledge, which has the potential to transform our fundamental understanding of fungal metabolism, growth and development and that could underpin the use of synthetic biology to engineer robust strains and speed product development
Summary
The EUROFUNG network The EUROFUNG network currently includes 35 academic members and an industrial platform of 9 European biotechnological and pharmaceutical companies, representing a multidisciplinary virtual centre in the field of fungal biotechnology. The EUROFUNG mission is to catalyze new research activities and collaborations, to act as a vehicle for communication and exchanges between academia and industry, and to raise awareness amongst key policy makers, funders and the broader stakeholder’s community of priority areas to advance fungal technologies. This white paper summarizes the discussions on gaps in knowledge and technologies and the strategies to address these challenges. In addition to those highlighted below will be discussed in detail in the main text of the white paper including respective recommendations on how to achieve them
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