🍌 Hy-five: Bioherbicides, Living Fungal Fibres, Fungi & Financial Independence, Zombie Fungi, Fruiting Bodies vs Mycelium.
Sporadic round-up of mycological research and industry news.
Hello dear fungi enthusiast,
Once hailed as the best and most effective tools in weed control, synthetic herbicides are now the subject of increasing legal and regulatory pressure. As of May 2025, the US agrochemical giant Monsanto has paid more than $11 billion in nearly 100,000 lawsuit settlements linking non-Hodgkin lymphoma to glyphosate (RoundUp) exposure.
Enter Phoma macrostoma. The potential of this fugus as a bioherbicide has been recognized for decades. In > 25 years of research and development efforts its effectiveness was demonstrated against a wide range of broadleaf weeds, with minimal impact on grasses and non-target organisms. The scientific data has been unequivocal – the fungus consistently delivers strong, selective herbicidal activity, offering a promising alternative to synthetic broadleaf herbicides. Unfortunately, until recently with application costs exceeding €1,000 per hectare, this bio-based solution was far more expensive than farmers could afford.
Enter Austrian based, Evologic Technologies. They’ve recently hit big milestones towards transforming Phoma into a market-ready product. By developing a formulation fit for spray application and achieving a 90% reduction in application rate and costs, Evologic has set the goal to reach one-digit application rate (kg) and costs (€) per hectare, and make Phoma widely commercially available by 2027.
This achievement will not only deliver a long-awaited bioherbicide to farmers but also plays a critical role in reducing dependence on harmful agrochemicals and addressing the surging resistance issues. With addressable market size of more than €5 billion, Phoma is set to become not only a sustainability milestone, but also a commercial success delivering broad value to modern agriculture.
Read more here and let me know what you think.
#1 Living Fungal Fibres: A Biodegradable Alternative to Plastics and Emulsifiers
What if the next generation of packaging, emulsifiers, and sensors wasn’t just biodegradable — but actually alive? In a the Empa lab in Switzerland, scientists have engineered a new class of biomaterials made from the mycelium of Schizophyllum commune, a common wood-degrading fungus also found in food. Their breakthrough: a plastic-like material that’s flexible, edible, and self-reinforcing — because it’s still biologically active.
The key innovation is that material performance is not added through external processing — it’s built in biologically. Because the fungal culture remains alive, its properties can be tuned through environmental conditions like temperature, pH, and nutrient availability.
#2 Fungi and Financial Independence: How Mushroom Farming is Empowering Women in Rural India
I have witnessed it first-hand in the Peruvian Sacred Valley, in Uganda through Josephine Nakakande's work, in Haïti and now in rural India where fungi are creating new paths to income, confidence, and autonomy.
In Odisha—one of India’s most climate-vulnerable states—mushrooms are offering more than just nutrition. They're providing economic resilience. Trained through Krishi Vigyan Kendras — agricultural extension centres acting as a bridge between agricultural research and farmers — hundreds of women are cultivating oyster (Pleurotus spp.) and button (Agaricus bisporus) mushrooms using simple low-tech setups. With nothing more than straw, shaded huts, and humidity control, some now harvest up to 10kg (22 pounds) of fresh mushrooms per day.
#3 What’s Really in Your Chaga Supplement? New Research Unpacks the Mycelium-on-Grain Problem
Mycelium-based supplements are booming—but are they always what they claim to be? A recent study puts the spotlight on Chaga (Inonotus obliquus) and raises serious concerns about misleading labelling and quality variation in fungal products grown on grain.
Chaga has long been celebrated for its antioxidant and therapeutic properties. Traditionally harvested from birch trees, the fungal conk is rich in unique bioactive compounds like betulin, betulinic acid, and inotodiol. But as demand outpaces wild supply, many producers have shifted to lab-grown mycelium cultivated on grain substrates. This study makes one thing clear: these two forms of Chaga are not biochemically equivalent.
4# Mesmerising Timelapses: Planet Fungi Captures a Miniature Zombie Fungi
This microscopic moment is a zoomed-in section of a time-lapse by Planet fungi duo Stephen Axford and Catherine Marciniak, where an uninvited guest—an ant no bigger than 2mm—photo-bombed the unfurling of Cruentamycena viscidocruenta, as it became the victim of a miniature zombie fungi.
Find out more about Planet Fungi and watch how Stephen and Catherine reveal the beauty of fungi one frame at a time.
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