Füting Pamina, Barthel Lars, Cairns Timothy C, Briesen Heiko, Schmideder Stefan
Chair of Process Systems Engineering, School of Life Sciences Weihenstephan, Technical University of Munich, 85354, Freising, Germany.
Chair of Applied and Molecular Microbiology, Faculty III Process Sciences, Institute of Biotechnology, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Fungal Biol Biotechnol. 2021 Dec 28;8(1):23. doi: 10.1186/s40694-021-00131-6.
Processes and products employing filamentous fungi are increasing contributors to biotechnology. These organisms are used as cell factories for the synthesis of platform chemicals, enzymes, acids, foodstuffs and therapeutics. More recent applications include processing biomass into construction or textile materials. These exciting advances raise several interrelated questions regarding the contributions of filamentous fungi to biotechnology. For example, are advances in this discipline a major contributor compared to other organisms, e.g. plants or bacteria? From a geographical perspective, where is this work conducted? Which species are predominantly used? How do biotech companies actually use these organisms?
To glean a snapshot of the state of the discipline, literature (bibliometry) and patent (patentometry) outputs of filamentous fungal applications and the related fields were quantitatively surveyed. How these outputs vary across fungal species, industrial application(s), geographical locations and biotechnological companies were analysed. Results identified (i) fungi as crucial drivers for publications and patents in biotechnology, (ii) enzyme and organic acid production as the main applications, (iii) Aspergillus as the most commonly used genus by biotechnologists, (iv) China, the United States, Brazil, and Europe as the leaders in filamentous fungal science, and (v) the key players in industrial biotechnology.
This study generated a summary of the status of filamentous fungal applications in biotechnology. Both bibliometric and patentometric data have identified several key trends, breakthroughs and challenges faced by the fungal research community. The analysis suggests that the future is bright for filamentous fungal research worldwide.
丝状真菌在生物技术领域的应用过程和产品正日益增多。这些生物体被用作细胞工厂，用于合成平台化学品、酶、酸、食品和治疗药物。最近的应用还包括将生物质加工成建筑或纺织材料。这些令人振奋的进展引发了几个与丝状真菌对生物技术的贡献相关的相互关联的问题。例如，与其他生物体（如植物或细菌）相比，该领域的进展是否是主要贡献因素？从地理角度来看，这项工作在哪里开展？主要使用哪些物种？生物技术公司实际上如何利用这些生物体？
为了了解该学科的现状，对丝状真菌应用及相关领域的文献（文献计量学）和专利（专利计量学）产出进行了定量调查。分析了这些产出在真菌物种、工业应用、地理位置和生物技术公司之间的差异。结果表明：（i）真菌是生物技术领域出版物和专利的关键驱动因素；（ii）酶和有机酸生产是主要应用；（iii）曲霉是生物技术人员最常用到的属；（iv）中国、美国、巴西和欧洲是丝状真菌科学领域的领先者；（v）工业生物技术的主要参与者。
本研究总结了丝状真菌在生物技术领域的应用现状。文献计量学和专利计量学数据都确定了真菌研究界面临的几个关键趋势、突破和挑战。分析表明，全球丝状真菌研究的前景光明。
