Fungal-fungal co-culture: a primer for generating chemical diversity

Covering: 2002 to 2020 In their natural environment, fungi must compete for resources. It has been hypothesized that this competition likely induces the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites for defence. In a quest to discover new chemical diversity from fungal cultures, a growing trend has been to recapitulate this competitive environment in the laboratory, essentially growing fungi in co-culture. This review covers fungal-fungal co-culture studies beginning with the first literature report in 2002. Since then, there has been a growing number of new secondary metabolites reported as a result of fungal co-culture studies. Specifically, this review discusses and provides insights into (1) rationale for pairing fungal strains, (2) ways to grow fungi for co-culture, (3) different approaches to screening fungal co-cultures for chemical diversity, (4) determining the secondary metabolite-producing strain, and (5) final thoughts regarding the fungal-fungal co-culture approach. Our goal is to provide a set of practical strategies for fungal co-culture studies to generate unique chemical diversity that the natural products research community can utilize.

Automated summary

This review summarizes the development of fungal-fungal co-culture studies from 2002 to 2020. It has been found that growing fungi in co-culture in the laboratory, replicating the competitive environment, can lead to the discovery of new secondary metabolites. The review discusses principles for pairing fungal strains, methods for growing fungi in co-culture, approaches to screening for chemical diversity, determining the strain that produces secondary metabolites, and final thoughts on the fungal-fungal co-culture approach.