A defined two-member fungal-bacterial coculture pairing the brown-rot basidiomycete Fomitopsis betulina CIRM-BRFM 860 with Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 to probe bacterial competition as a trigger for fungal nutritional stress and secondary metabolism. Albert et al. 2026 tested the pair in malt extract agar confrontations, where F. betulina inhibited distant E. coli growth, and in malt extract broth, where E. coli addition after 3 days of fungal growth depleted glucose within 1 day, reduced fungal dry biomass, and shifted F. betulina transcription toward carbon acquisition, transport, stress adaptation, and multiple biosynthetic gene clusters.
Taxonomy
| Taxon | Ontology ID | Functional Roles | Abundance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fomitopsis betulina CIRM-BRFM 860 — ontology label: Fomitopsis betulina | NCBITaxon:40450 · TaxonMech · TraitMech | N/A | |
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| Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 — ontology label: Escherichia coli | NCBITaxon:562 · TaxonMech · TraitMech | N/A | |
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Ecological Interactions
The graph shows only explicitly linked interaction participants. Community members without an asserted participant link are omitted; membership alone does not imply an interaction.
E. coli-Associated Glucose Depletion and F. betulina Stress
COMPETITIONPARTIAL: E. coli addition to established F. betulina liquid MEB cultures was followed by glucose depletion within one day, fungal biomass of 34 mg (reported as 44% lower), and stress-related fungal transcription after three days of coculture. These observations support nutrient competition as an interpretation, but the inspected selected primary excerpts do not describe selective glucose rescue establishing mediation. BGC expression indicates transcriptional response, not production or identification of an active secreted metabolite. Endpoint bacterial counts were not reduced in this liquid assay.
Source Taxon: Escherichia coli ATCC 25922
Target Taxon: Fomitopsis betulina CIRM-BRFM 860
Metabolites: glucose (CHEBI:17234 · MediaIngredientMech · CMMMech)
Evidence
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doi:10.64898/2026.09.14.751415 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)"the glucose concentration was reduced to zero within 1 day"
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doi:10.64898/2026.09.14.751415 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)"the growth of F. betulina was reduced to 34 mg dry weight"
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doi:10.64898/2026.09.14.751415 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)"The bacterial count on agar medium at the end of the experiment did not reveal any impact of the coculture on the bacterial growth."
F. betulina distal inhibition of E. coli on malt extract agar
F. betulina inhibited distal E. coli growth on malt extract agar. Inhibition-zone UHPLC-HRMS features were putatively identified as a Sumiki's acid derivative, calcium diformate and sulfuric acid; these are not confirmed active compounds. HYPOTHESIZED: acid-associated local pH changes mediate inhibition. The inspected selected excerpts describe a pH gradient but no selective neutralization or defined-compound rescue establishing necessity. Piptamine was not detected under these conditions, not shown to be universally absent. This agar phenotype is distinct from liquid-culture stress transcription and unchanged endpoint bacterial counts.
Source Taxon: Fomitopsis betulina CIRM-BRFM 860
Target Taxon: Escherichia coli ATCC 25922
Evidence
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doi:10.64898/2026.09.14.751415 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)"We observed a clear inhibition of the bacterial growth at distance from the mycelium"
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doi:10.64898/2026.09.14.751415 - PARTIAL (IN_VITRO)"The features detected in the inhibition zone were putatively identified as a Sumiki's acid derivative, calcium diformate, and sulfuric acid."
Knowledge gaps & discussions (1)
KNOWLEDGE_GAP OPEN Which mediators cause liquid fungal stress and separate agar bacterial inhibition?
Selected primary preprint excerpts support measured glucose depletion, fungal biomass loss and transcription in liquid, versus distal bacterial inhibition and putative acid features on agar. No selective glucose rescue or pH neutralization is described in those excerpts; the full paper was not re-read because the public PDF request returned HTTP 429, so this is not a claim of universal experimental absence. Piptamine nondetection is condition-specific; BGC induction is not active-product identification. Preserve two nodes and zero arrows rather than connect different assay regimes. Prior cache-support fixes #1169/#1170/#1171 and the natural-partner caveat removal #1173 remain intact.
Attaches to: ecological_interactions#E. coli-Associated Glucose Depletion and F. betulina Stress, ecological_interactions#F. betulina distal inhibition of E. coli on malt extract agar
External Resources
| Name | Repository | Resource ID |
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Primary Fomitopsis-E. coli nutritional-stress coculture preprint
bioRxiv DOI for the 2026 preprint describing Fomitopsis betulina CIRM-BRFM 860 coculture with Escherichia coli ATCC 25922. |
OTHER | doi:10.64898/2026.09.14.751415 |
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Growth Media
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