Fantastic fungi found with ability to freeze water
image:
Xiaofeng Wang portrait.
view moreCredit: Photo courtesy of Virginia Tech.
Can fungi influence the weather?
Turns out, they just might.
An international group of researchers that includes Virginia Tech’s Xiaofeng Wang and Boris A. Vinatzer discovered the identity of fungal proteins that can catalyze ice formation at high subzero temperatures. The research is published in Science Advances.
One potential application of this discovery could be to engineer weather.
In a process called cloud seeding, particles that can trigger the water in the clouds to turn into ice crystals, called ice nucleators, are released into clouds. The ice crystals then grow in size as more and more water molecules stick to them. In a kind of snowball effect, the ice crystals grow and become heavier, fall toward the ground, melt as they pass through the atmosphere and become rain.
The traditional particle used for ice nucleating is silver iodide, which is highly toxic. The researchers believe the fungal protein molecule could provide a better alternative.
“If we learn how to cheaply produce enough of this fungal protein, then we could put that into clouds and make cloud seeding much safer,” said Vinatzer, professor in the School of Plant and Environmental Sciences.
The group also found evidence that the fungal gene encoding the ice nucleation protein was likely acquired by a fungal ancestor from a bacterial species through a process known as horizontal gene transfer, at least hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of years ago.
“It is known that fungi can acquire genes from bacteria, but it’s not something that is common,” said Vinatzer, an affiliate with the Translational Plant Sciences Center. “So I never expected that this fungal gene had a bacterial origin.”
Researchers have known that fungi are capable of ice nucleation since the early 1990s, Vinatzer said. Only recently, however, have advances in DNA sequencing and computer science allowed them to sequence the genomes of the specific class of fungi, the Mortierellacae family, and discover the gene that encodes the ice nucleation protein.
While they still don’t know how fungi benefit from the acquired gene, they do know that the fungi have made modifications over the years to make it even better.
And that translates to making applications for human benefit better as well.
The ice nucleating proteins produced by the fungi differ from those of bacterial origin in that they are cell-free and water-soluble. These differences make the fungal molecules more appealing in bioinspired freezing technologies and engineered weather modifications.
For example, in the preparation of frozen foods, the fungal molecule would be safer than the bacterial one because the fungus just secretes the ice nucleation molecule, but the whole bacterial cell would be needed in the bacterial ice nucleation.
“That’s a big advantage in food production because you have just this one well defined protein and you can get rid of everything else,” said Vinatzer, who is also affiliated with the Fralin Life Sciences Center. “There is the possibility to develop a safe, effective additive that helps in the preparation of frozen food.”
Another potential use for fungal ice nucleation is in cryopreservation of cells such as tissues, sperm, eggs, and embryos.
“Adding a fungal ice nucleator, which is a relatively small molecule, makes the water around the cell freeze much earlier before it gets very cold, to protect the delicate cell inside,” Vinatzer said. “You couldn’t do that with the bacteria because you would have to add entire bacterial cells.”
Ice nucleation is also important for climate models, according to Vinatzer. Climate models predict how much radiation is reflected by clouds into space and how much reaches Earth. Ice in the clouds allows more radiation to go through to the Earth.
“Now that we know this fungal molecule, it will become easier to find out how much of these kinds of molecules are in clouds,” Vinatzer said. “And in the long run, this research could contribute to developing better climate models.”
Vinatzer began his ice nucleation research at Virginia Tech with David Schmale, professor and director of the Translational Plant Sciences Center, who leads a summer ice nucleation research program in Austria for undergraduate students, while Xiaofeng Wang contributed his expertise in yeast biotechnology to confirm the identity of the new gene.
This study was funded by the National Science Foundation and the Department of Defense, and supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.
Participants in the study include the following:
- Rosemary J. Eufemio, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Boise State University
- Mariah Rojas, School of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Virginia Tech
- Kaden Shaw, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Boise State University
- Ingrid de Almeida Robeiro, Department of Chemistry, The University of Utah
- Hao-Bo Guo, Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio
- Galit Renzer, Department of Molecular Spectroscopy, Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Germany
- Kassaye Belay, School of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Virginia Tech
- Haijie Liu, School of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Virginia Tech
- Parkesh Suseendran, School of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Virginia Tech
- Xiaofeng Wang, School of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Virginia Tech
- Janine Fröhlich-Nowoisky, Department of Multiphase Chemistry, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Germany
- U. Pöschl, Department of Multiphase Chemistry, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Germany
- Mischa Bonn, Department of Molecular Spectroscopy, Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Germany
- Rajiv J. Berry, Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio
- Valeria Molinero, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Boise State University
- Boris A. Vinatzer, School of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Virginia Tech
- Konrad Meister, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Boise State University, and Department of Molecular Spectroscopy, Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Germany
Original study: doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aed9652
Journal
Science Advances
Article Title
A previously unrecognized class of fungal ice-nucleating proteins with bacterial ancestry
Article Publication Date
11-Mar-2026
Native fungi offer new hope against almond anthracnose in Mediterranean orchards
The widespread dependence on synthetic fungicides to manage this pathogen has raised mounting concerns over environmental impacts and the emergence of resistant strains. In response, the researchers uncovered that almond trees host a rich and diverse fungal community, including native species capable of naturally suppressing the disease, pointing toward more sustainable and ecologically sound management strategies.
Almond (Prunus dulcis) is a high-value nut crop widely grown in the United States, Spain, Australia, Türkiye, and Morocco. Intensified production systems, including irrigation and high-density planting, have increased vulnerability to fungal diseases, particularly anthracnose. This disease, favored by wet springs and temperatures of 20–25 °C, infects flowers, leaves, branches, and young fruits, causing sunken lesions, fruit mummification, and significant yield losses. Control mainly depends on preventive fungicide applications during flowering and early fruit set. However, chemical strategies may disrupt beneficial microbiota, leave residues, and promote resistant pathogen strains, driving interest in sustainable biological control alternatives.
A study (DOI:10.48130/aee-0025-0015) published in Agricultural Ecology and Environment on 20 January 2026 by Madalena Ramos & Pedro Talhinhas, Universidade de Lisboa, reveals that native almond-associated fungi can serve as effective biological control agents against anthracnose, providing a sustainable alternative to chemical fungicides and advancing microbiome-based crop protection strategies.
Using a comprehensive isolation and screening approach, researchers first characterized the fungal communities associated with almond trees by collecting flowers, leaves, branches, and fruits from 16 cultivars and processing tissues with and without surface disinfection to distinguish endophytes from epiphytes. This strategy yielded 19,802 isolates, including 12,211 endophytes and 7,591 combined epiphytic/endophytic isolates, grouped into 39 genera across Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, and Mucoromycota. Colonization patterns varied by organ and cultivar: branches produced the highest number of isolates (6,015), fruits showed the highest endophytic colonization frequency (92.8%), and leaves and branches exhibited the greatest endophytic diversity (Shannon index up to 2.25). Cultivars ‘Lauranne’, ‘Soleta’, and ‘Belona’ harbored the richest and most diverse communities. Across both disinfection methods, Alternaria was the dominant genus, followed by Cladosporium, Rhizopus, Penicillium, and Trichoderma, while certain genera were exclusive to either disinfected or non-disinfected tissues, indicating ecological specialization. To evaluate biocontrol potential, 24 representative isolates were tested against Colletotrichum godetiae in dual culture assays. The results revealed striking differences in antagonistic capacity: Trichoderma viridescens, Neurospora intermedia, and Trichoderma citrinoviride achieved the highest mycelial inhibition (up to 83.69% on average and 91.61% at the final assessment), with T. viridescens reducing conidia production by 99.31% and rapidly overgrowing the pathogen. Two-way ANOVA confirmed significant effects of isolate identity and time on inhibition dynamics (p < 2 × 10⁻¹⁶). Some isolates, including Stemphylium vesicarium, Talaromyces amestolkiae, and Clonostachys chloroleuca, strongly suppressed sporulation (>92%) despite limited effects on colony growth, indicating distinct mechanisms targeting conidiogenesis. In contrast, certain Penicillium, Cladosporium, and Diaporthe isolates stimulated pathogen sporulation, producing more conidia than controls. Macroscopic observations further revealed diverse interaction types, including overgrowth, contact inhibition, distance inhibition, and mycelial replacement, highlighting the complexity of fungal–fungal interactions within the almond microbiome.
In conclusion, this study demonstrates that almond orchards possess a rich reservoir of native fungal antagonists that can function as natural defense agents against anthracnose. Endophytic species such as Trichoderma viridescens, T. citrinoviride, and Neurospora intermedia show strong potential as biofungicide candidates due to their adaptation to the host environment. Harnessing these fungi could reduce chemical inputs, protect beneficial microbiota, and promote more sustainable, resilient almond production systems.
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References
DOI
Original Souce URL
https://doi.org/10.48130/aee-0025-0015
Funding information
This work was funded by FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P. (Grant No. 2021.05854.BD), and FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, I.P. through project UID/04129/2025 (https://doi.org/10.54499/UID/04129/2025) of LEAF-Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture, and Food.
About Agricultural Ecology and Environment
Agricultural Ecology and Environment (e-ISSN 3070-0639) is a multidisciplinary platform for communicating advances in fundamental and applied research on the agroecological environment, focusing on the interactions between agroecosystems and the environment. It is dedicated to advancing the understanding of the complex interactions between agricultural practices and ecological systems. The journal aims to provide a comprehensive and cutting-edge forum for researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and stakeholders from diverse fields such as agronomy, ecology, environmental science, soil science, and sustainable development.
Method of Research
Experimental study
Subject of Research
Not applicable
Article Title
Selection of fungi derived from almond orchards for biological control of almond anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum godetiae
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