The Myceliated Mushroomwave

Quinn Silva

SYP essay

The Myceliated Mushroomwave

Mushrooms and their Mycelium roots are going to detoxify, heal, and restore the earth. I know this seems hard to believe, but it’s the truth. You are probably wondering what is mycelium, and how mycelium and mushrooms can and will do all of this. My Senior Year Project goal will be to share the amazing story of mycelium, its restorative powers and some pretty phenomenal uses for it as well.

Up until a few short months ago I had no idea what Mycelium was. I had signed up for Senior Year project but had no idea what I was going to do for it, so I did what most people would do; I procrastinated. Luckily one of my favorite ways to procrastinate is to watch TED talks online. Much to my surprise in less than an hour I stumbled upon this captivating TED talk given by Eben Bayer a co-founder of Ecovative Designs titled “Are Mushrooms the new Plastic?” In this video Eben presents Mycelium, a fungus that most people assume are just the inert roots of a mushroom and the company that he co cofounded. Ecovative Designs grows the mycelium on a substrate (some type of organic material) in a mold to create a ridged item that can be used as a Styrofoam substitute. Currently this company is using mycelium as packaging material, bowls, house and car insulation, seat cushions, coolers, and is always finding new ways to expand. When I first heard they were using mycelium as a Styrofoam substitute I asked myself “How can I do something awesome with this”?” My mind instantly jumped to building a surfboard with a mycelium core instead of Styrofoam. I thought this could be a huge step forward in becoming less dependent on fossil fuel products such as Styrofoam; a highly toxic petroleum product, and replacing it with an organic bio degradable product? At this point I had no knowledge of what goes into building a surfboard, and very little knowledge of Mycelium, and thought that this could be the perfect opportunity to explore both of these things through my senior year project. Step one was to learn all I could about surfboard design.

Surfboard Design

Being an avid white water kayaker, wake boarder, sailor, and most recently a surfer myself I jumped at the chance to research surfboard design. There are 4 basic components to surfboard design; the first is the “rocker”. The rocker is the curvature of the bottom of the board and is an important component of the shape and functionality of the board. It is broken onto three sections, the nose rocker, mid-rocker, and the tail kick, each having their own unique measure and effect on the mobility of the board (detailed information about surfboard design can be found in the appendix). After I felt confident with my knowledge of rocker it was time to move on to the rails.

The rail of a surf board is where the deck of the board and the bottom meet; rail design determines how responsive the board will be and how well it will accelerate. The rail is where the water flows over the side of the board, so different shapes will yield different results. A soft or more rounded rail is seen more on a long board, or Stand-Up paddle board (SUP for short) because it is more stable and tracks better, which makes it a great board for beginners. Sharper rails are more for pivoting, and achieving the acceleration needed for tricks, which could be overwhelming if you’re just starting out.

Tail design is where the rider experiences the most freedom, and control over their board. The general rule for tail design is that the shape matches the turn. This means that a tail with a sharp and angular design will be able to make sharp hairpin turns much easier than a rider with a rounded tail which is seen on long boards which make sweeping slow turns. It is the relationship of tail kick-which allows the rider to pivot the nose end up- and tail design – which determines the type of turn the board will easily make- that gives the rider their freedom of style, and range of tricks they can achieve. (surfinghandbook.com)

The final component of surfboard design is the fin placement and design. Fin design and placement complements the tail design and kick by influencing the tracking, and maneuverability of the board. The thickness of the fin as well as its angle influences drag (turbulence caused from the wave created by the fin moving through the water), and tracking. A fin that is thicker will have more drag but will allow the board to track better (seen more on long boards), and a fin that angles out from the bottom but tilts inward towards the center will give the rider more of a response when turning as well as reduced drag. (tactics.com/info/guide-to-surfboard-fins)

All things considered the more experience a surfer has the more they can mix and match different rockers, rails, fins, and tail designs to create the ultimate surfboard for their needs and interests. For this project I will be building a long board that I can also use as a Stand Up Paddleboard (SUP).

Mycelium in Depth

After gathering all of this information about surfboard design, and functionality I stopped and thought “Wait I still don’t know much about Mycelium!” As I franticly researched mycelium I was only able to get spotty information, most of which was about cooking and farming mushrooms and not Mycelium. However there was this one name; Paul Stamets that kept coming up in every search. He had written a book that seemed to have a focus on mycelium called “Mycelium Running” so I figured that he must be the brain on Mycelium and went out and purchased his book. After two days of reading this book, my entire life had been changed and my brain was on overload with information, questions, and amazement for all of the applications of mycelium.

Let’s first start off with how plants and animals use Mycelium to their advantage. The relationship between two organisms directly working together for some net benefit (usually to prevent infestation by parasites and to gather nutrients) is called mutualism.(Stamets P. 2005) It is common to see insects like termites and ants cultivating mushrooms. Both use Mycelium, and mushroom beds for aid in growing their larvae (IMAGE 1). Since certain fungi function as natural bactericides and fungicides (Via the enzymes naturally produced by their mycelium), some insects have taken them on as allies in an effort to counter infections from harmful bacteria and other fungi. Studies at Oregon state university (Currie et al. 2003) show that Attine ants, which include leaf cutters, grow Lepiota Mycelium as hosts for a harmless bacteria that produces an antibiotic against destructive microfungal parasites (Escovopsis sp.), and they also feed Lepiota Mycelium to their larvae.

There is a specific mycelium referred to as Endophytes that are benevolent, nomycorrhizal (mycelium that does not wrap around the roots) fungi that partner with many plants, from grasses to trees. Endophyte Mycelia thread between the cell wall but do not actually enter the cell, this enhances the plants ability to grow and absorb nutrients, while thwarting parasites, infections, and avoiding attacks from insects, other fungi, and herbivores. Paul Stamets noticed through his research that Endophytes grow well in laboratory conditions but found that many naturally occurring Endophytes have lost their ability to produce spores, and therefore mushrooms, and spend their life in a continuous Mycelial state. Below (IMAGE 2) you can see a picture of a plant cell and the Endophytes wrapping around, and in-between cells but not actually entering the cell.

IMAGE 2 IMAGE 1: (Stamets P. 2005)

An example of an experiment where endophytes were found to be beneficial to plants was; In a 2003 experiment in Panama, researchers found that when endophyte free leaves from the chocolate producing cocoa tree were inoculated with endophytes, leaf necrosis and mortality declined threefold, suggesting a biodefensive effect is possible against the other pathogens such as Phytophthora, the genus responsible for sudden oak death-a disease devastating California's native Oak population. (Arnold et al. 2003)

Different species of these Endophytes can have other applications. For example the Curvularia species is a fungus qualified as an extremophile (a thermally tolerant species that grows in harsh environments where life is hard to find) and allows some tolerance to drought and heat to the host plant. The effects of Curvularia spores on plants may expand the biological tool set for Mycorestoration, possibly even drastically expanding oasis environment and countering desertification. (Stamets P. 2005) Some Endophyte fungi can become competitive with blight (a type of fungi that is parasitic and rots wood and lives off of the host) and overcome it. Pulverized mixtures of Sclerotium (a compact mass of hardened Mycelium, with stored food) also known as Chaga can be packed into infected trees to heal and eradicate the blight.

Medical Benefits of Mycelial Enzymes

Mushrooms and their mycelium are beneficial not only to plants (and forests on a large scale), but also humans as an active defense against harmful insects, infection from bacteria, and harmful fungi (usually parasitic). Mushrooms and Humans are similar in the way that we both need to fight off infection from bacteria, and parasites. Humans take the defensive and create antibodies to attack infections and bacteria after they are in our system, whereas mushrooms and their mycelia take the offensive and produce a whole host of enzymes that ward off these unwanted enemies. With increasing pollution and disease it is imperative that we protect the natural habitats of these mushrooms in old growth forests, because not only will the Mycelial bed filter out pollutants but many of our medicines today have their roots in mushrooms. Estimates are that two-thirds of our pharmaceuticals still originate from nature. (Stamets 2005)

Natural medicines such as taxol, discovered in the bark of Pacific yew trees, help chemists to manufacture similar compounds for treating deadly diseases like ovarian and other cancers. Another example is Paul Stamets's discovery is an extract from the polypore mushroom, Formitopsis officinalis, protects human blood cells from infection from orthopox viruses, the family that includes small pox. Collins and Ng (1997) identified a polysaccharopeptide from turkey tail (Trametes versicolor) mushrooms inhibiting HIV type 1 infection. Eo and others (1999,2000) found antiviral activity in the methanol-soluble fractions of Reishi mushrooms (Ganoderma lucidum) that selectively inhibit herpes simplex 1 and 2, and the vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) (see tables 1-3 in the Appendix extracted from Paul Stamets book “Mycelium Running”)

What causes this? It can’t just be happening on its own? The answer is NATURE every time! The cell surface of the Mycelium in essence "sweats" out antibacterial enzymes that are known to scientists as exudates, or secondary metabolites (produced in the metabolism process that is not necessary for reproduction or directly related to growth). To name a few useful antibiotics isolated in mushrooms look at the table presented below.

Table 1:

Mushroom / Antibiotic
Calvatia gigantea(Giant puffballs) / Calvacin
Armillaria mella(Honey mushroom) / Armillaric Acid
Agaricus campestris (Meadow mushroom) / Campestrin
Coprinus species (Inky caps) / Coprinol
Trametes versicolor (Turkey tail) / Corolin
Lentinula elodes (Shiitake) / Cortinellin
Ganoderma lucidum(Reishi) / Gnaomycin
Fomitopsis officanlis(Agarikon) / Agaricin
Sparassis crispa (Cauliflower) / Sparassol

The fact that Mushrooms inhibit some bacteria but not others shows that Mycelium influences the makeup of microbial populations in its immediate ecosystem. (Stamets P. 2005). All of these medical benefits that are readily available to us through Mycelium make it mandatoryimperative that we protect mushrooms and preserve their natural habitat. Below you can see an image of strands of mycelium “sweating” out the enzymes that we are able to apply to medicine.

IMAGE 3

Mycorestoration

Mycorerestoration is the use of fungi to repair or restore the weakened immune systems of a given environment. Mycorerestoration involves using fungi to filter water (Mycofiltration), to enact Ecoforestry policy (Mycoforestry), or co-cultivation with food crops (Mycogardening), to denature toxic wastes (Mycoremediation), and to control insect pests (Mycopesticides). In this essay I’m going to highlight Mycofiltration, Mycoremediation, and Mycopesticides.

Mycofiltration

Mycofiltration is the use of Mycelium as a web-like medium for filtering out micro-organisms, pollutants, and silt. Mycelium forms this thread like network of interlacing cells that weave within one another, this network, web; bed whatever you would like to call it, catches particles and in some cases digest them. As the substrate (a supporting organic material on which Mycelium can grow) debris is digested, micro-cavities form and fill with air or water providing a buoyant, aerated structure with an extensive surface area. The natural enzymes (the antibacterial “sweat” mentioned in the medical benefits section above) that Mycelium produces may not digest all of the pathogens that may be in the soil, but some bacteria such as Bacillus subtilis(a catalase bacteria that is known to compromise immune systems) are blocked from reproducing and are forced into dormancy.