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Hierarchical Structure of the Program Used by Filamentous Fungi to Navigate in Confining Microenvironments

Summary

This research reveals how fungi navigate through tight spaces like soil and wood using sophisticated biological ‘programs’ operating at three levels: individual fungal threads, groups of threads, and entire fungal networks. Each level uses different strategies like sensing openings, remembering directions, and avoiding neighbors to efficiently explore confined spaces. By understanding these natural algorithms, scientists could develop new bio-inspired solutions for navigation and space exploration problems.

Background

Filamentous fungi are ubiquitous organisms that navigate diverse microenvironments through specialized biological mechanisms. Previous studies have focused on individual hypha behavior or entire mycelium without a comprehensive hierarchical understanding of their navigation programs. This research bridges that gap by analyzing space navigation across multiple organizational levels.

Objective

To identify and characterize the hierarchical three-layered system of information processing used by filamentous fungi to navigate confined microenvironments. The study compares navigation behaviors across three fungal species in microfluidic structures to establish common and species-specific space searching programs.

Results

Space navigation operates through three hierarchical levels: individual hyphae (sensing narrow passages, directional memory, branching), co-located hyphae (negative autotropism, cytoplasm reallocation, anastomosis), and mycelium (localized solution clustering without apparent global coordination). Species-specific variations were observed in remote sensing frequency, directional memory resilience, and branching patterns.

Conclusion

Filamentous fungi employ a sophisticated hierarchical architecture of biological algorithms for space navigation that balance complexity with specialization. The synergy of various subroutines (collision-induced branching, directional memory, negative autotropism, and cytoplasm reallocation) enables efficient exploration of confined microenvironments. These biological algorithms present potential for biomimetic applications.
  • Published in:Biomimetics (Basel),
  • Study Type:Experimental Research,
  • Source: PMID: 40422117, PMCID: PMC12109565, DOI: 10.3390/biomimetics10050287
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