Fungal Biotechnology in Space: Why and How?

Abstract

Fungi have been companions of mankind for millennia. Mushrooms inspired our eating culture, and yeasts and filamentous fungi were developed into highly efficient cell factories during the last 100 years to produce many products utilized in different industries worldwide. What more is to come in the next 100 years? We propose here that fungi can become important cell factories for life in space, especially regarding the filamentous fungus Aspergillus niger as the cutting-edge must-have for space travel in the twenty-first century and beyond. First, it is one of the most robust and efficient production systems used nowadays in industrial biotechnology. Second, it is a multipurpose cell factory that produces a diverse range of organic acids, proteins, enzymes and natural products. And third, it is a common fungal isolate of the International Space Station. A. niger could thus become an essential companion of astronauts for the autonomous production of food, enzymes and antibiotics during space travel. What needs to be done to achieve these visionary goals? In this chapter, we will discuss the opportunities of A. niger as a cell factory spanning from Earth to space. We summarize the current state of the art of A. niger biotechnology on Earth and discuss the general tools and technologies still in need of development to take a new step for mankind: space biotechnology.