Fungal Word Friday: Hydrophobin

Fungi live all over the place... duh. The thing is, those fungi need to be able to withstand a wide range of environments and pressures in order to do so. On of their tools for survival is a group of proteins called hydrophobins.

Hydrophobin Water Resistant Monolayer assemble!

Hydrophobins are less then 100 amino acids long and rich in cysteine. What makes them special is that only filamentous fungi produce them and they have the ability to self assemble into a monolayer along  hydrophobic:hydrophilic barriers, such as water and air.
Basically hydrophobins give filamentous fungi a barrier to help moderate its interaction with the environment, allowing them to grow in all sorts of habitats.


Photo cred:  Lijealso [Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons