Hypha Active

Aspergillus oryzae (A. oryzae) is a formidable fungus. Used in traditional Japanese brewing for over a thousand years, it’s also employed by pharmacologists as a living factory for producing enzymes. Here, researchers study how A.oryzae grows, using a fluorescence microscope to capture its spread over two days. Each 'branch' is a fungal hypha, and each white dot inside is a nucleus. Aspergillus oryzae is multinucleate – researchers discover that the numbers of nuclei increase in proportion with volume as the hyphae grow. This could be the key to A. oryzae’s remarkable ability to make proteins. Studying the genes involved, and how the fungus responds to different environments, could help to boost the manufacture of enzymes with uses as varied as making soy sauce or treating Parkinson's disease.

Written by John Ankers

John Ankers

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A former researcher in systems biology, John is now an online biology tutor and professional coach supporting the wellbeing of scientists and NHS professionals. He's writing, too, of course.

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• Video from work by Ayaka Itani and colleagues
• Microbiology Research Center for Sustainability (MiCS), Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, Tsukuba Institute for Advanced Research (TIAR), University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan
• Video originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
• Published in eLife, February 2025