The Big Bang, unknown fungus. Image: © Diego D Bianchi
Diego Bianchi spent the pandemic hunting for fungi that will sustainably support commercial crops. Now he is celebrating their aesthetic value with his online gallery.
A “bioprospecting” scientist from Trinity College Dublin, who has spent the last few years hunting for new fungal strains that can be used as beneficial crop-aiding agents in agriculture, recently launched the Fungal Galaxies gallery to show off the spectacular beauty of some of his new finds, and we at SiliconRepublic.com think it’s well worth a visit.
With this fusion of science and art, Diego Bianchi wants to open eyes and minds to the wonderful world of fungi, most of which are invisible to the naked eye.
“We believe only around 10-15pc of fungi have so far been characterised, mainly because most do not grow under laboratory conditions,” says Bianchi, a PhD candidate in the School of Natural Sciences at Trinity College Dublin.
“This project offers an exclusive manifesto of a mere smattering of the fungal biodiversity out there, while simultaneously unveiling the hidden beauty and complexity of filamentous fungi that live within plants, from the roots to the seeds.
Working on this project during the Covid pandemic, Bianchi had to attain special permission for his travels from Killiney to Ballbriggan along the Irish coast, in order to isolate a wide range of species of filamentous fungi from wild relatives of cereal crops. His purpose was to explore their symbiotic properties and enhance plant growth and resilience against pathogens in commercial crops.
“We know that many of these fungal species engage in symbiotic relationships with plants, helping them survive and thrive while profiting themselves from the unique ‘ecological deals’ they have brokered, as both plants and fungi have evolved together,” he continues.
He says there are countless more species out there that have yet to be uncovered, and which could potentially help crop productivity, with the positive knock-on effect of minimising the use of pesticides and fertilisers.
Bianchi focused on barley for the purposes of this research, and screened the fungi for symbiotic properties in the lab and in glasshouse trials, assessing their impacts on barley growing in optimal and stressed conditions.
Having successfully isolated hundreds of fungal species with extremely diverse traits, Diego’s passion for fungi evolved from their scientific applications to an artistic appreciation of their natural beauty as well. The result is the rather beautiful online Fungal Galaxies, which showcases the purely aesthetic value of filamentous fungi.
“I hope this work will be used as a powerful tool to inspire awareness and engagement in ecosystem conservation, where fungi play vital roles in maintaining ecological balance.”
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