Project description:This work presents an exploration of submerged differentiation of the ubiquitous saprophyte and industrially important fungus, Aspergillus niger, in response to a limited availability of a sole carbon and energy source, maltose. In aspergilli and other mold fungi, asexual reproduction through formation of elaborate conidiogenic structures normally requires an aerial interface. This requirement is bypassed in submerged culture in response to severe nutrient limitation. Continuous cultures with cell retention (retentostat cultures) were applied to generate a fundamental physiological state, where the specific growth rate approaches zero, as the density of the cell population adapts to the supply of the limiting energy source. Temporal differentiation of mycelium structure and commitment to asexual reproduction were major phenomena, apparent on biochemical, morphological, physiological, and transcriptomic level. The severe substrate limitation had a rapid negative impact on cytoplasmic processes, and promoted endo- and exogenous nutrient mobilization, and hyphal compartmentalisation. The first conidiogenic structures appeared after one day with little additional differentiation until Day 4 to 6, where a transition to full commitment to reproductive growth took place. Submerged conidiation in A. niger involved transcriptional regulation of homologs of the regulatory pathway, centered around the Bristle gene (brlA), and structural genes previously described in other aspergilli. Comparison of transcriptomes, revealed a number of co-regulated gene clusters, which appear to encode secondary metabolite biosynthetic potential. We discuss the concept of maintenance energy in the context of differentiation, a possible physiological trigger for sporulation and the special physiological adaptations of the starved mycelium. We also present a simple and efficient method for in situ retention of filamentous organisms. The dataset consists of 9 Affymetrix arrays derived from defined growth conditions of lab-scale bioreactor cultures (5L). Total RNA was extracted from biomass harvested at three different growth phases: exponential growth phase, 2 and 8 days of retentostat cultivation. For each of the phases, the data is derived from three biological replicates.

Project description:Saccharomyces cerevisiae is an established microbial host for the production of non-native compounds. The synthesis of these compounds typically demands energy and competes with growth for carbon and energy substrate. Uncoupling product formation form growth would benefit product yields and decrease formation of by-product biomass. Studying non-growing metabolically-active yeast cultures provides a first step towards developing S. cerevisiae as a non-growing, robust cell factory. Non-growing metabolically-active cultures can be obtained in retentostat, a glucose-limited, continuous bioreactor system in which biomass accumulates while spent medium is constantly removed. Hitherto retentostat cultures of S. cerevisiae have only been reported under anaerobiosis, condition inappropriate for the production of energy-demanding products. The present study, using retentostat cultures, explores the physiology of non-dividing, fully respiring S. cerevisiae, focusing on industrially-relevant features. Following model-aided experimental design, retentostat cultivations were optimized for accelerated but smooth transition of S. cerevisiae from exponential growth to near-zero growth rates. During 20 days in retentostat the biomass concentration increased, leading very slow growth rates (specific growth rates below 0.001 h-1) but high culture viability (over 80% of viable cells). The maintenance requirement (mATP) was estimated at 0.64 mmolATP.gX-1.h-1, which is remarkably ca. 35% lower than the mATP measured in anaerobic retentostat cultures. Transcriptional down-regulation of genes involved in biosynthesis and up-regulation of stress-responsive genes towards near-zero growth rates corresponded well with data from anaerobic retentostats. More striking was the extreme heat-shock tolerance of S. cerevisiae, which exceeded by far previously reported heat shock tolerance of notoriously robust yeast cultures such as stationary phase cultures. Furthermore, while the metabolic fluxes in the retentostats were relatively low as a result of extreme caloric restriction, off-line measurements revealed that S. cerevisiae retained a high catabolic capacity. The high viability and extreme heat-shock tolerance revealed the robustness of S. cerevisiae at near-zero growth in retentostat. In addition, the relatively low maintenance requirements and high metabolic capacity under severe calorie restriction underline the potential of S. cerevisiae as a non-dividing microbial cell factory for the production of energy-intensive compounds. The retentostat is a promising tool to identify the molecular basis of this extreme robustness.

Project description:Saccharomyces cerevisiae is an established microbial host for the production of non-native compounds. The synthesis of these compounds typically demands energy and competes with growth for carbon and energy substrate. Uncoupling product formation form growth would benefit product yields and decrease formation of by-product biomass. Studying non-growing metabolically-active yeast cultures provides a first step towards developing S. cerevisiae as a non-growing, robust cell factory. Non-growing metabolically-active cultures can be obtained in retentostat, a glucose-limited, continuous bioreactor system in which biomass accumulates while spent medium is constantly removed. Hitherto retentostat cultures of S. cerevisiae have only been reported under anaerobiosis, condition inappropriate for the production of energy-demanding products. The present study, using retentostat cultures, explores the physiology of non-dividing, fully respiring S. cerevisiae, focusing on industrially-relevant features. Following model-aided experimental design, retentostat cultivations were optimized for accelerated but smooth transition of S. cerevisiae from exponential growth to near-zero growth rates. During 20 days in retentostat the biomass concentration increased, leading very slow growth rates (specific growth rates below 0.001 h-1) but high culture viability (over 80% of viable cells). The maintenance requirement (mATP) was estimated at 0.64 mmolATP.gX-1.h-1, which is remarkably ca. 35% lower than the mATP measured in anaerobic retentostat cultures. Transcriptional down-regulation of genes involved in biosynthesis and up-regulation of stress-responsive genes towards near-zero growth rates corresponded well with data from anaerobic retentostats. More striking was the extreme heat-shock tolerance of S. cerevisiae, which exceeded by far previously reported heat shock tolerance of notoriously robust yeast cultures such as stationary phase cultures. Furthermore, while the metabolic fluxes in the retentostats were relatively low as a result of extreme caloric restriction, off-line measurements revealed that S. cerevisiae retained a high catabolic capacity. The high viability and extreme heat-shock tolerance revealed the robustness of S. cerevisiae at near-zero growth in retentostat. In addition, the relatively low maintenance requirements and high metabolic capacity under severe calorie restriction underline the potential of S. cerevisiae as a non-dividing microbial cell factory for the production of energy-intensive compounds. The retentostat is a promising tool to identify the molecular basis of this extreme robustness. The goal of the present study is to investigate the physiology of aerobic fully respiring S. cerevsiae at near-zero growth rates. Fundamental but industrially-relevant questions were addressed thanks to the design, implementation and study of aerobic retentostat cultivations enabling a rapid but smooth transition of S. cerevisiae from exponential growth to near-zero growth rates.

Project description:In nature, filamentous fungi are exposed to diverse nutritional sources and changes in substrate availability. Conversely, in submerged cultures, mycelia are continuously exposed to the existing substrates, which are depleted over time. Submerged cultures are the preferred choice for experimental setups in laboratory and industry and are often used for understanding the physiology of fungi. However, to what extent the cultivation method affects fungal physiology, with respect to utilization of natural substrates, has not been addressed in detail. Here, we compared the transcriptomic responses of Aspergillus niger grown in submerged culture and solid culture, both containing sugar beet pulp (SBP) as a carbon source. The results showed that expression of CAZy (Carbohydrate Active enZyme)-encoding and sugar catabolic genes in liquid SBP was time dependent. Moreover, additional components of SBP delayed the A. niger response to the degradation of pectin present in SBP. In addition, we demonstrated that liquid cultures induced wider transcriptome variability than solid cultures. Although there was a correlation regarding sugar metabolic gene expression patterns between liquid and solid cultures, it decreased in the case of CAZyme-encoding genes. In conclusion, the transcriptomic response of A. niger to SBP is influenced by the culturing method, limiting the value of liquid cultures for understanding the behavior of fungi in natural habitats. IMPORTANCE Understanding the interaction between filamentous fungi and their natural and biotechnological environments has been of great interest for the scientific community. Submerged cultures are preferred over solid cultures at a laboratory scale to study the natural response of fungi to different stimuli found in nature (e.g., carbon/nitrogen sources, pH). However, whether and to what extent submerged cultures introduce variation in the physiology of fungi during growth on plant biomass have not been studied in detail. In this study, we compared the transcriptomic responses of Aspergillus niger to growth on liquid and solid cultures containing sugar beet pulp (a by-product of the sugar industry) as a carbon source. We demonstrate that the transcriptomic response of A. niger was highly affected by the culture condition, since the transcriptomic response obtained in a liquid environment could not fully explain the behavior of the fungus in a solid environment. This could partially explain the differences often observed between the phenotypes on plates compared to liquid cultures.

Project description:BACKGROUND: Filamentous fungi such as Aspergillus niger are well known for their exceptionally high capacity for secretion of proteins, organic acids, and secondary metabolites and they are therefore used in biotechnology as versatile microbial production platforms. However, system-wide insights into their metabolic and secretory capacities are sparse and rational strain improvement approaches are therefore limited. In order to gain a genome-wide view on the transcriptional regulation of the protein secretory pathway of A. niger, we investigated the transcriptome of A. niger when it was forced to overexpression the glaA gene (encoding glucoamylase, GlaA) and secrete GlaA to high level. RESULTS: An A. niger wild-type strain and a GlaA over-expressing strain, containing multiple copies of the glaA gene, were cultivated under maltose-limited chemostat conditions (specific growth rate 0.1 h-1). Elevated glaA mRNA and extracellular GlaA levels in the over-expressing strain were accompanied by elevated transcript levels from 772 genes and lowered transcript levels from 815 genes when compared to the wild-type strain. Using GO term enrichment analysis, four higher-order categories were identified in the up-regulated gene set: i) endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane translocation, ii) protein glycosylation, iii) vesicle transport, and iv) ion homeostasis. Among these, about 130 genes had predicted functions for the passage of proteins through the ER and those genes included target genes of the HacA transcription factor that mediates the unfolded protein response (UPR), e.g. bipA, clxA, prpA, tigA and pdiA. In order to identify those genes that are important for high-level secretion of proteins by A. niger, we compared the transcriptome of the GlaA overexpression strain of A. niger with six other relevant transcriptomes of A. niger. Overall, 40 genes were found to have either elevated (from 36 genes) or lowered (from 4 genes) transcript levels under all conditions that were examined, thus defining the core set of genes important for ensuring high protein traffic through the secretory pathway. CONCLUSION: We have defined the A. niger genes that respond to elevated secretion of GlaA and, furthermore, we have defined a core set of genes that appear to be involved more generally in the intensified traffic of proteins through the secretory pathway of A. niger. The consistent up-regulation of a gene encoding the acetyl-coenzyme A transporter suggests a possible role for transient acetylation to ensure correct folding of secreted proteins.

Dataset Information

Transcriptomic insights into the physiology of Aspergillus niger approaching a specific growth rate of zero.

Publications

Transcriptomic insights into the physiology of Aspergillus niger approaching a specific growth rate of zero.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets