Deciphering fungal-microbial interactions: From microscale experimental models to integrative systems biology.

Integrative systems biology enables rational engineering of fungal-microbial consortia, advancing from microscale models to ecosystem-level applications.

• Why it matters: Understanding and controlling fungal-microbial interactions is crucial for harnessing their ecosystem functions and bio-economy potential, yet their complexity hampers practical use.
• What they did: The review explores technological advances, including microfluidic platforms, synthetic endosymbiosis, and multi-omics integrated with AI and metabolic modeling, to design and optimize these interactions.
• The result: These approaches facilitate iterative community optimization and functional performance, paving the way for scalable, reproducible applications in agriculture, environment, and industry.