Nitrilases attract increasing attention due to their utility in the mild hydrolysis of nitriles. According to activity and gene screening, filamentous fungi are a rich source of nitrilases distinct in evolution from their widely examined bacterial counterparts.
However, fungal nitrilases have been less explored than the bacterial ones. Nitrilases are typically heterogeneous in their quaternary structures, forming short spirals and extended filaments, these features making their structural studies difficult.