Conditions for CaCO₃ Biomineralization by Trichoderma Reesei with the Perspective of Developing Fungi‐Mediated Self‐Healing Concrete

Abstract

Concrete, a widely used building material, often suffers from cracks that lead to corrosion and degradation. A promising solution to enhance its durability is the use of fungi as self‐healing agents, specifically by harnessing their ability to promote calcium carbonate (CaCO3) precipitation on their cell walls. However, the ideal conditions for CaCO3 precipitation by the filamentous fungal species Trichoderma reesei are still unclear. In this study, the biomineralization properties of T. reesei in liquid media are investigated. Two different calcium sources, calcium chloride (CaCl2) and calcium lactate are tested, at varying concentrations and in the presence of different nutritional sources that support growth of T. reesei. This study also explores the effects on fungal growth upon adding cement to the medium. Calcium lactate promotes greater fungal biomass production, although less crystals are formed as compared to samples with CaCl2. An increasing calcium concentration positively influences fungal growth and precipitation, but this effect is hindered upon the addition of cement. The highest amounts of biomass and calcium carbonate precipitation are achieved with potato dextrose broth as a nutritional source. By identifying the optimal conditions for CaCO3 precipitation by T. reesei, this study highlights its potential as a self‐healing agent in concrete.

Synthetic biology for Monascus: From strain breeding to industrial production

“…Hence, developing efficient gene editing technologies capable of targeting multiple genes across filamentous fungi, including Monascus species, is crucial for advancing their industrial applications. The development of synthetic biology for constructing engineered flamentous fungi would also help expand their industrial applications, which can be devided into six types: food and cosmetic additives, [35][36][37][38] ecological restoration, [39,40] biobased material, [41] microbial control, [42,43] biological conversion, [44] and nutraceuticals (Figure 1). [45][46][47]…”