Coprophilous fungi : Closing the loop: improving circularity with manure-loving mushrooms

In nature manure is recycled by unique fungi (coprophilic fungi), which are capable of growth on substrates with high nitrogen contents. They bind a lot of the nutrients and in a delayed release they are making these nutrients available for plants, animals and insects, thereby closing nutrient cycles. This may provide opportunities for processing of manure. Within project KB-40-005-008; Closing the loop: improving circularity with manure-loving mushrooms), part of the Investment theme Connected circularity, we have been provided with the opportunity to work on a this topic. A literature study was performed on the options that coprophilic fungi offer. It focused on the taxonomic and ecological knowledge of coprophilous mushrooms present in the Netherlands and on the threats of fungal diversity on dung. Next to this the literature study focusses on the options that coprophilous fungi offer as a source of secondary metabolites or enzymes. Furthermore it briefly focusses on an overview of genomes available of coprophilous fungi. The literature study is finalized with a brief outlook towards possibilities of using coprophilous mushrooms in a circular agriculture system. In the second part of the project we able to build a collection of coprophilic basidiomycete strains comprising of 38 strains distributed over at least 23 species. Limited tests of their ability to grow on a small range of types of manure demonstrated growth of 23 strains on chicken manure (ranging from limited growth to abundant growth). A total of 19 strains showed growth on cow manure (again ranging from limited growth to abundant growth). Pig manure was least favorite in our experiments, with only 4 strains showing growth with different abundances. We believe that this project will provide a starting point for a study of applicability of coprophilic fungi in circular agriculture.