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<p>Water scarcity and heat stress are major challenges to sustainable agriculture and global food security. Here we present a hierarchically structured living material composed of directionally guided mycelium fibres, designed to regulate soil moisture and thermal load by harvesting atmospheric water and dissipating heat. The material is fabricated by cultivating <i>Pleurotus ostreatus</i> on a cellulose scaffold under asymmetric gas exposure, which directs hyphal growth into a vertically organized architecture with a fused cellulose–mycelium composite below and a porous aerial mycelium network above. This configuration creates a built-in wettability gradient. Aerial mycelium fibres become hydrophobic through the self-assembly of hydrophobins during upward growth into the air, whereas cellulose fibres and submerged mycelium remain hydrophilic. This gradient enables directional water transport, driving condensed atmospheric moisture from the aerial surface into the soil. Simultaneously, the porous aerial network back-scatters solar radiation and emits thermal radiation, lowering the surface temperature and promoting water vapour condensation. Field trials show that this biologically grown soil envelope increases tomato yield by approximately 28% (wet weight) compared to bare soil. Overall, this work demonstrates how the guided biomanufacturing of living materials can be harnessed to create functional, scalable and sustainable solutions for climate-resilient agriculture.</p>

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Living mycelium biomulch for directed atmospheric water capture and soil irrigation

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年6月15日

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  • Xiaojie Liu,
  • Yanpei Tian,
  • Wenhui Xu,
  • Dylan Boylan,
  • Pengfei Deng,
  • Fengyin Du,
  • Natalia Ospina-Munoz,
  • Libin Yang,
  • Zhenyuan Niu,
  • Petrus Langenhoven,
  • Bumsoo Han,
  • Steven O. Nielsen,
  • Yinsheng Wan,
  • Zhao Qin,
  • Xianming Dai,
  • Tian Li

摘要

Water scarcity and heat stress are major challenges to sustainable agriculture and global food security. Here we present a hierarchically structured living material composed of directionally guided mycelium fibres, designed to regulate soil moisture and thermal load by harvesting atmospheric water and dissipating heat. The material is fabricated by cultivating Pleurotus ostreatus on a cellulose scaffold under asymmetric gas exposure, which directs hyphal growth into a vertically organized architecture with a fused cellulose–mycelium composite below and a porous aerial mycelium network above. This configuration creates a built-in wettability gradient. Aerial mycelium fibres become hydrophobic through the self-assembly of hydrophobins during upward growth into the air, whereas cellulose fibres and submerged mycelium remain hydrophilic. This gradient enables directional water transport, driving condensed atmospheric moisture from the aerial surface into the soil. Simultaneously, the porous aerial network back-scatters solar radiation and emits thermal radiation, lowering the surface temperature and promoting water vapour condensation. Field trials show that this biologically grown soil envelope increases tomato yield by approximately 28% (wet weight) compared to bare soil. Overall, this work demonstrates how the guided biomanufacturing of living materials can be harnessed to create functional, scalable and sustainable solutions for climate-resilient agriculture.