Fire-Loving Fungi Have Learned to Eat Charcoal — A Useful Skill for Dealing With Industrial Waste

Although wildfires are a natural and recurring phenomenon in certain regions, climate change is intensifying their impact. Each year, fires now swallow around four percent of Earth’s land surface, leaving behind vast, unrecognizable charred landscapes.

While most living organisms succumb to the flames, certain plants need regular fires to help bring life back to dead-looking environments. Alongside plants, some fungi have become fire lovers, too.

Now, researchers at the University of California, Riverside, have published a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences describing how inconspicuous fungi hidden in soil evolved to protect themselves from heat and how they acquired the genes that allow them to munch on charcoal.

This discovery could eventually be expanded to help clean up other forms of environmental waste, such as oil spills and other pollutants left behind by industrial processes.

Read more: This Popular Culinary Mushroom Turns Meals into Visions, Making People See “Little Elves”

Fungi That Thrive After Flames

Wildfires are merciless forces of destruction, devouring nearly everything in their path. But they also offer new beginnings. Because fires are part of certain ecosystems, some plants and fungi have adapted to their regular occurrence.

These pyrophilous (fire-loving) organisms have become an essential part of postfire ecosystems, driving nutrient cycling and helping burned areas recover more quickly — essentially starting fresh on a blank slate.

To learn more about the mechanisms that allow fungi to survive and thrive after fires, the UC Riverside research team collected 18 fungal species from several wildfire sites in California. They found that fungi use clever strategies to protect themselves from heat. Some produce sclerotia, natural protective “suits” made of dense mycelium that also serve as food reserves, allowing fungi to remain dormant until conditions improve. Others simply retreat deeper into the soil, emerging early after a fire into an environment free of competitors.

Some fungi take things even further by surviving directly on charred remains. By sequencing the fungi’s genes after exposing them to charcoal, the researchers uncovered three distinct mechanisms that enable fungi to extract nutrients from what appears to be a lifeless material.

Charcoal Eating Is in Some Fungi’s Genes

When fire feeds on organic material — whether trees or a steak on the barbecue — it rearranges molecules into a rigid chemical structure that appears black and consists mostly of elemental carbon. This structure lacks obvious nutritional value. Still, certain genes carry the instructions needed to break down these rigid carbon compounds.

The team found that some fungi can mass-produce these genes, leading to higher enzyme production that boosts charcoal digestion enough to sustain growth. Members of the fungal group Basidiomycota, which includes the iconic red-capped, white-spotted mushrooms, appear to acquire key genes for charcoal metabolism through sexual reproduction.

One finding surprised the researchers. Coniochaeta hoffmannii shopped its charcoal-digesting genes from bacteria through a process called horizontal gene transfer, which study co-author Sydney Glassman, UCR associate professor of microbiology and plant pathology, describes in a press release as “[…] you sharing genes with your friends or siblings” rather than inheriting them vertically from parents, as humans do.

“This kind of gene sharing across kingdoms is incredibly rare,” she added. “But it gives this fungus the genes it needs to break down burn scars.”

Expanding Fungal Skills to Clean the Environment

Beyond satisfying scientific curiosity, understanding how fungi digest charcoal could have practical environmental benefits. Similar mechanisms might be used to break down other stubborn pollutants.

“There are a lot of ways these genes can be harnessed to clean up oil spills or break down ores or help restore burned landscapes,” added Glassman.

Humans have perfected extracting valuable resources from the planet, often leaving behind altered waste that few organisms can use. As with research into plastic-eating fungi, charcoal-digesting fungi may offer another way nature can help clean up our mess.

“It’s a very new area with potentially a lot of beneficial applications,” said Glassman.

Read More: Ancient Wildfires Shaped Antarctica and the Atacama Desert into the Most Extreme Places on Earth

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