Role of Trichoderma Virens mycelium in enhancing erosion resistance of low plasticity silt

Abstract

Conventional techniques for soil erosion control often rely on the use of cementing additives and coating agents to improve shear strength, minimize particle movement, and increase soil water repellency. These chemical agents, however, involve energy intensive production and treatment processes and can cause significant environmental impacts. Recent studies have demonstrated that fungal mycelium (a root-like three-dimensional structure of fungi) can extend through soil pores and secrete strong hydrophobic compounds, binding soil particles together and increasing soil water repellency at the soil surface. This study investigated the effect of fungal mycelium on the erosion resistance of a low plasticity silt for potential soil erosion mitigation. Water dripping tests were conducted on untreated and fungal-treated specimens under various conditions, including different fungal growth durations, void ratios, water dripping rates, and desiccation condition. Untreated specimen exhibited a 45% soil mass loss and 10.5 mm of erosion depth after one hour of water dripping. In contrast, fungal-treated specimens showed no loss of soil mass and 4-5 mm of erosion depths after four hours of water dripping. Furthermore, fungal mycelium remained effective in erosion resistance even after 30 days of desiccation at 60 °C.

Keywords

Fungal mycelium / Erosion / Water dripping test / Soil water repellency

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Moe William M.: Conceptualization, Writing - review & editing. Lin Hai: Writing - review & editing, Supervision, Resources, Project administration, Methodology, Funding acquisition, Conceptualization. Park Joon Soo: Writing - original draft, Visualization, Validation, Methodology, Investigation, Formal analysis, Data curation, Conceptualization.

Data availability

The data used to support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Hai Lin reports financial support was provided by State of Louisiana Board of Regents. Hai Lin reports financial support was provided by National Science Foundation. Hai Lin is the Associate Editor for Biogeotechnics, he was not involved in the editorial review or the decision to publish this article. The other authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to acknowledge the support of the Louisiana Board of Regents Research Competitiveness Subprogram under Grant No. 039A-19, the transportation infrastructure precast innovation center (TRANS-IPIC) under grant No. 69A3552348333, and the National Science Foundation under Award No. 2339618. The authors would also like to thank the staff of the LSU Shared Instrumentation Facility for assistance with SEM imaging.

References

[1] Abramson, L. W., Lee, T. S., Sharma, S., & Boyce, G. M. (2001). Slope stability and stabilization methods. John Wiley and Sons.

[2] Andrew, R. M. (2019). Global CO2 emissions from cement production, 1928-2018. Earth System Science Data, 11(4), 1675-1710. https://doi.org/10.5194/ESSD-11-1675-2019

[3] Bachmann, J., Ellies, A., & Hartge, K. H. (2000). Development and application of a new sessile drop contact angle method to assess soil water repellency. Journal of Hydrology, 231-232, 66-75. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-1694(00)00184-0

[4] Bardet, J.P., Jesmani, M., Jabbari, N., & Lourenco, S.D.N. (2015). Permeability and compressibility of wax-coated sands. Https://Doi.Org/10.1680/Geot.13.P.118, 64(5), 341-350. https://doi.org/10.1680/GEOT.13.P.118.

[5] Bardet, J.-P., Jesmani, M., & Jabbari, N. (2011). Effects of compaction on shear strength of wax-coated sandy soils. The Electronic Journal of Geotechnical Engineering, 16, 451-461.

[6] Byun, Y. H., Khoa Tran, M., Yun, T. S., & Lee, J. S. (2011). Strength and stiffness characteristics of unsaturated hydrophobic granular Media. Geotechnical Testing Journal, 35(1), 193-200. https://doi.org/10.1520/GTJ103650

[7] Caesar-Tonthat, T. C. (2002). Soil binding properties of mucilage produced by a basidiomycete fungus in a model system. Mycological Research, 106(8), 930-937. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0953756202006330

[8] Chan, C. S. H., & Lourenço, S. D. N. (2016). Comparison of three silane compounds to impart water repellency in an industrial sand. Géotechnique Letters, 6(4), 263-266. https://doi.org/10.1680/JGELE.16.00097

[9] Chenu, C. (1989). Influence of a fungal polysaccharide, scleroglucan, on clay microstructures. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 21(2), 299-305. https://doi.org/10.1016/0038-0717(89)90108-9

[10] Clough, K. S., & Sutton, J. C. (1978). Direct observation of fungal aggregates in sand dune soil. Canadian Journal of Microbiology, 24(3), 333-335. https://doi.org/10.1139/m78-056

[11] Daniels, J. L., & Hourani, M. S. (2009). Soil improvement with organo-silane. In Advances in Ground improvement. Geotechnical Special Publication, 188, 217-224.

[12] Daynes, C. N., Zhang, N., Saleeba, J. A., & McGee, P. A. (2012). Soil aggregates formed in vitro by saprotrophic Trichocomaceae have transient water-stability. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 48, 151-161. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2012.01.010

[13] Degens, B. P., Sparling, G. P., & Abbott, L. K. (1996). Increasing the length of hyphae in a sandy soil increases the amount of water-stable aggregates. Applied Soil Ecology, 3(2), 149-159. https://doi.org/10.1016/0929-1393(95)00074-7

[14] Dejong, J. T., Soga, K., Kavazanjian, E., Burns, S., Van Paassen, L. A., AL Qabany, A., Aydilek, A., Bang, S. S., Burbank, M., Caslake, L. F., Chen, C. Y., Cheng, X., Chu, J., Ciurli, S., Esnault-Filet, A., Fauriel, S., Hamdan, N., Hata, T., Inagaki, Y., & Weaver, T. (2013). Biogeochemical processes and geotechnical applications: Progress, opportunities and challenges. Geotechnique, 63(4), 287-301. https://doi.org/10.1680/geot.SIP13.P.017

[15] Doerr, S. H., Shakesby, R. A., Dekker, L. W., & Ritsema, C. J. (2006). Occurrence, prediction and hydrological effects of water repellency amongst major soil and land-use types in a humid temperate climate. European Journal of Soil Science, 57(5), 741-754. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2389.2006.00818.x

[16] Dorioz, J. M., Robert, M., & Chenu, C. (1993). The role of roots, fungi and bacteria on clay particle organization. An experimental approach. Geoderma, 56(1-4), 179-194. https://doi.org/10.1016/0016-7061(93)90109-X

[17] Fay, L., Akin, M., & Xianming, S. (2012). Cost-effective and sustainable road slope stabilization and erosion control. Washington D.C: Transportation Research Board.

[18] Gadd, G. M. (2001). Fungi in bioremediation. Cambridge University Press https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511541780

[19] Ghasemi, P., & Montoya, B. M. (2022). Field implementation of microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation for surface erosion reduction of a coastal plain sandy slope. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 148(9), Article 04022071. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)GT.1943-5606.0002836

[20] González-Peñaloza, F. A., Zavala, L. M., Jordán, A., Bellinfante, N., Bárcenas-Moreno, G., Mataix-Solera, J., Granged, A. J. P., Granja-Martins, F. M., & Neto-Paixão, H. M. (2013). Water repellency as conditioned by particle size and drying in hydrophobized sand. Geoderma, 209-210, 31-40. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.GEODERMA.2013.05.022

[21] Hamdan, N., & Kavazanjian, E. (2016). Enzyme-induced carbonate mineral precipitation for fugitive dust control. Géotechnique, 66(7), 546-555. https://doi.org/10.1680/JGEOT.15.P.168

[22] Han, J. (2015). Principles and practice of ground improvement. Johns and Wiley.

[23] Karol, R. H. (2003). Chemical grouting and soil stabilization. Crc Press.

[24] Keatts, M. I., Daniels, J. L., Langley, W. G., Pando, M. A., & Ogunro, V. O. (2018a). Apparent contact angle and water entry head measurements for organo-silane modified sand and coal fly ash. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 144(6), Article 04018030. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)GT.1943-5606.0001887

[25] Lagasse, P., Schall, J., Johnson, F., Richardson, E., Assistants, T., Arneson, L., Dunn, C., Harrison, L., Morris, J. L., Pagan, J., Trent, R., Waddoups, A., Richardson, J., Zevenbergen, L., Young, G. K., & Atayee, A. T. (1995). Stream stability at highway structures. Federal Highway Administration.

[26] Lawler, D. M. (1993). The measurement of river bank erosion and lateral channel change: A review. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 18(9), 777-821. https://doi.org/10.1002/ESP.3290180905

[27] Lee, C., Yang, H.-J., Yun, T. S., Choi, Y., & Yang, S. (2015). Water-entry pressure and friction angle in an artificially synthesized water-repellent silty soil. Vadose Zone Journal, 14(4), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.2136/VZJ2014.08.0106

[28] Lehmann, A., & Rillig, M. C. (2015). Understanding mechanisms of soil biota involvement in soil aggregation: A way forward with saprobic fungi? Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 88, 298-302. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2015.06.006

[29] Ng, S. H. Y., & Lourenço, S. D. N. (2016). Conditions to induce water repellency in soils with dimethyldichlorosilane. Géotechnique, 66(5), 441-444. https://doi.org/10.1680/JGEOT.15.T.025

[30] NZS (2020). NZS 4297 Engineering design of earth buildings. Standards New Zealand.

[31] Park, J. S., Lin, H., Chen, E., Alqrinawi, H., Dong, Y., & Moe, W. M. (2025). Mechanical properties of fine-grained soils treated with fungal mycelium of trichoderma virens. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering. https://doi.org/10.1061/JGGEFK/GTENG-12745

[32] Park, J.S. (2024). Soil improvement using fungal mycelium of trichoderma virens and construction techniques of mud dauber. LSU Doctoral Dissertations.

[33] Park, J. S., Lin, H., Moe, W. M., & Salifu, E. (2023). Hydraulic properties of sands treated with fungal mycelium of trichoderma virens. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 149(11), Article 04023093. https://doi.org/10.1061/JGGEFK.GTENG-11111

[34] Rebata-Landa, V., & Santamarina, J. C. (2006). Mechanical limits to microbial activity in deep sediments. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 7(11), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1029/2006GC001355

[35] Ritz, K., & Young, I. M. (2004). Interactions between soil structure and fungi. Mycologist, 18(2), 52-59. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0269915X04002010

[36] Salifu, E. (2019). Engineering fungal-mycelia for soil improvement. University of Strathclyde.

[37] Salifu, E., & El Mountassir, G. (2020). Fungal-induced water repellency in sand. Géotechnique, 1-25. https://doi.org/10.1680/jgeot.19.p.341

[38] Salifu, E., El Mountassir, G., Minto, J. M., & Tarantino, A. (2021). Hydraulic behaviour of fungal treated sand. Geomechanics for Energy and the Environment Article 100258. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.GETE.2021.100258

[39] Sartori, M., Philippidis, G., Ferrari, E., Borrelli, P., Lugato, E., Montanarella, L., & Panagos, P. (2019). A linkage between the biophysical and the economic: Assessing the global market impacts of soil erosion. Land Use Policy, 86, 299-312. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.LANDUSEPOL.2019.05.014

[40] Seed, R. B., Bea, R. G., Abdelmalak, R. I., Athanasopoulos-Zekkos, A., Boutwell, G. P., Briaud, J.-L., Cheung, C., Cobos-Roa, D., Ehrensing, L., Govindasamy, A. V., Harder, L. F., Inkabi, K. S., Nicks, J., Pestana, J. M., Porter, J., Rhee, K., Riemer, M. F., Rogers, J. D., Storesund, R., & Wartman, J. (2008). New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina. I: Introduction, overview, and the east flank. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 134(5), 701-717.

[41] Shirole, A. M., & Holt, R. C. (1991). Planning for a comprehensive bridge safety assurance program. Transport Research Record, 1290, 137-142.

[42] Stalder, A. F., Melchior, T., Müller, M., Sage, D., Blu, T., & Unser, M. (2010). Low-bond axisymmetric drop shape analysis for surface tension and contact angle measurements of sessile drops. Colloids and Surfaces, 364(1-3), 72-81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colsurfa.2010.04.040

[43] Subedi, S., Kawamoto, K., Jayarathna, L., Vithanage, M., Moldrup, P., Jonge, L. W. de, & Komatsu, T. (2012). Characterizing time-dependent contact angles for sands hydrophobized with oleic and stearic acids. Vadose Zone Journal, 11(1), https://doi.org/10.2136/VZJ2011.0055

[44] Tisdall, J. M., Nelson, S. E., Wilkinson, K. G., Smith, S. E., & McKenzie, B. M. (2012). Stabilisation of soil against wind erosion by six saprotrophic fungi. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 50, 134-141. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2012.02.035

[45] U.S.Department of Agriculture ( 2020). 2017 national resources inventory summary report. Washington D.C: National Resources Conservation Service.

[46] Wessels, J. G. H. (1996). Hydrophobins: Proteins that change the nature of the fungal surface. Advances in Microbial Physiology, 38, 1-45. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2911(08)60154-X

[47] Wijewardana, N. S., Kawamoto, K., Moldrup, P., Komatsu, T., Kurukulasuriya, L. C., & Priyankara, N. H. (2015). Characterization of water repellency for hydrophobized grains with different geometries and sizes. Environmental Earth Sciences, 74(7), 5525-5539. https://doi.org/10.1007/S12665-015-4565-6/TABLES/3

[48] Wösten, H. A. B., & De Vocht, M. L. (2000). Hydrophobins, the fungal coat unravelled. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta(BBA) - Reviews on Biomembranes, 1469(2), 79-86. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0304-4157(00 ) 00002-2

[49] Wösten, H. A. B., Schuren, F. H. J., & Wessels, J. G. H. (1994). Interfacial self-assembly of a hydrophobin into an amphipathic protein membrane mediates fungal attachment to hydrophobic surfaces. The EMBO Journal, 13(24), 5848. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1460-2075.1994.tb06929.x

[50] Wösten, H. A. B., Van Wetter, M. A., Lugones, L. G., Van der Mei, H. C., Busscher, H. J., & Wessels, J. G. H. (1999). How a fungus escapes the water to grow into the air. Current Biology, 9(2), 85-88. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0960-9822(99)80019-0

[51] Wosten, H. A. B., De Vries, O. M. H., & Wessels, J. G. H. (1993). Interfacial self-assembly of a fungal hydrophobin into a hydrophobic rodlet layer. The Plant Cell, 5(11), 1567-1574. https://doi.org/10.1105/TPC.5.11.1567

[52] Wu, C. (2013). Towards linear-time incremental structure from motion. Proceedings - 2013 International Conference on 3D Vision, 3DV 2013, 127-134. https://doi.org/10.1109/3DV.2013.25.

[53] Wu, C., Agarwal, S., Curless, B., & Seitz, S.M. (2011). Multicore bundle adjustment. Proceedings of the IEEE Computer Society Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition, 3057-3064. https://doi.org/10.1109/CVPR.2011.5995552.

[54] Zhang, X., Fan, X., Wang, C., & Yu, X. (2023). A novel method to improve the soil erosion resistance with fungi. Acta Geotechnica, 18(5), 2827-2845. https://doi.org/10.1007/S11440-022-01673-8/METRICS