The genetic basis of colonial variants in Fusarium venenatum

The production of mycoprotein and its subsequent processing into products with a high-quality meat-like texture is one of the great triumphs of industrial biotechnology (IB) and food science of the last forty years. Continuous, or long-term production is hampered by the production of variants of the type strain, A3/5, which differ in branching morphology and have a much higher growth rate than the wild-type strain. These are known as colonial variants (c-variants) and have been studied in some detail in the early 1990's through previous industrial/academic collaborations.
Objectives divided into three work packages: determine the genetic basis of c-variant through repeated sampling and sequencing of distinct c-variant isolates; validate the genetic mechanism of colonial variant production; and develop and test hypotheses for c-variant amelioration.