Our Mission
We are a scientific consortium of experts specialising in fungal research, actively propelling the frontiers of fungal biology and biotechnology.
The EUROFUNG Consortium's mission is to foster the exploration of the extensive potential of filamentous fungi as cell factories by establishing a collaborative network of academic researchers and industry partners. This objective is accomplished through:
Promotion of international and interdisciplinary scientific interactions between scientific leaders in the field and partners from industry.
Outreach and communication of the many potentials that fungal biotechnology can offer to promote a truly circular bioeconomy and to find solutions to problems associated with a growing global population and climate change such as food security and fungal diseases.
EUROFUNG aims to catalyse 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.
Established in 1995, the EUROFUNG network stands as a prominent European hub of expertise with globally recognised specialists and long-standing collaborations between industry and academia in the field of white biotechnology. Over time, it has evolved into a foundation dedicated to the exploration and expansion of the potential of filamentous fungi as versatile cell factories.
The importance of filamentous fungi
Filamentous fungi are microorganisms with unique properties in relation to protein and metabolite production, serving as a major resource for sustainable applications in areas such as biofuel and chemical production.
Fungi are also potential foes, being a serious and growing cause of human disease and a major threat to crops and food security. With over 1.5 million species, as a friend it represents a major resource for future sustainable applications and processes, but as a potential foe it is a serious and growing cause of human disease and mortality and threat to many crops and food safety.
The importance of fungal-based biotechnology
Europe is a world leader in industrial applications of filamentous fungi and the underlying science. In the 1920s, fungal citric acid has been introduced into the market as major food ingredient, soon after Fleming discovered penicillin which till now has saved the lives of millions. Since the 1980s, filamentous fungi are used for the production of proteins and enzymes as they are often superior to bacterial and yeast based production systems, in terms of versatility and secretory capacity.
However, to date only a small fraction of the metabolic potential of filamentous fungi has been exploited or is even known. Many European companies, which are part of the EUROFUNG consortium, have thus active research programs to extend their current fungal products:
Organic acids which are used as food ingredients and key building blocks for the chemical industry
Proteins such as hydrolytic enzymes used for various applications in white biotechnology including biomass degradation for biofuel production and heterologous proteins used as pharmaceuticals
Secondary metabolites including antibiotics and pharmaceuticals such as statins
The importance of fungi in remediation systems and sustainable economies
Fungi's substantial contribution to bioremediation is attributed to their resilient physical structure and wide-ranging metabolic capabilities. Mycoremediation technologies have been used in textile dye degradation, heavy metal removal and pesticide degradation.
Filamentous fungal cell factories also play a central role in the sustainable production of biofuels (e.g., biodiesel, biobutanol, etc.) and chemicals (e.g. organic acids, aminoacis, and enzymes).