Marine fungi and their biotechnological applications

The marine environment is made up of a multitude of habitats, from coastal zones to the deep ocean, in which microbial communities play essential roles, notably through their involvement in biogeochemical cycles. Research carried out on these different marine habitats, some of which are highly atypical, has highlighted the richness of microbial communities using increasingly innovative approaches. These highly diversified and constantly interacting communities of micro-organisms represent a vast field of investigation for biotechnologies. Bacteria and archaea, as well as some micro-eukaryotes, notably microalgae, are the most widely studied micro-organisms in the marine environment. However, recent studies have clearly demonstrated the presence and activity of fungal communities in many marine habitats, opening up a whole new field of investigation to better understand their diversity, biomass, ecological roles, biotic and abiotic interactions and biotechnological potential.

While the singular properties of terrestrial fungi and the associated biotechnological applications, particularly in red, white and yellow biotechnologies, are no longer in question, what about marine fungi? Do these micromycetes represent a new source of biomolecules, particularly enzymes, biopolymers and secondary metabolites? After defining the "concept" of marine fungi and presenting the diversity and functions of these more or less atypical micro-organisms, a state-of-the-art review of the biomolecules produced by these organisms and likely to attract the attention of biotechnology operators (teacher-researchers, researchers, engineers and start-ups/companies) will be presented. Practical approaches dedicated to genetic/genomic screening of marine fungi to reveal the potential for synthesis of secondary metabolites will then be presented in order to make available existing methods and valorization pipelines aimed at exploiting the biotechnological potential of marine fungi.