Göteborg: Fungus makes barnacles come unstuck

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Researchers at Göteborg University in Sweden have demonstrated that an extract of the microscopic fungus Streptomyces avermitilis added to paint for the hulls of vessels keeps the surface entirely free from barnacles.

Hans Elwing, professor at the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, says the fungus affects the nervous system of barnacles, and only a tiny amount is of extract is needed to have an effect.

Barnacles growing on ships increase drag, resulting in higher fuel consumption and hence higher costs and more emissions. Existing anti-foul paints are themselves polluting as the poison dissolves and spreads into the water.

The S. avermitilis study is one of several research projects on anti-foul paints being carried out at Göteborg. The discovery of how this the fungus disrupts barnacles was made by specialists in surface biophysics.

 “The fungal extract is toxic only as long as the paint is on the surface of the hull,” says Elwing. “When the paint is dissolved in sea water, it appears the poison is not activated making the paint apparently harmless to organisms in the open sea.”

The scientists think that being mixed into the paint makes to the fungal extract invoke its natural (and environmentally friendly) defence against being eaten. Elwing believes that other organisms in the sea have developed this type of protection.

“No naturally occurring substance has previously been shown to have such a dramatic effect on barnacles, whilst at the same time being readily degradable in the environment and probably completely safe for humans,” he says.

Elwing has teamed up with SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden in Borås and Stockholm to further develop the research findings. The aim is to develop new anti-fouling paints that do not contain copper.