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Heterogeneity of Aspergillus niger microcolonies in liquid shaken cultures.

ABSTRACT: The fungus Aspergillus niger forms (sub)millimeter microcolonies within a liquid shaken culture. Here, we show that such microcolonies are heterogeneous with respect to size and gene expression. Microcolonies of strains expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP) from the promoter of the glucoamlyase gene glaA or the ferulic acid esterase gene faeA were sorted on the basis of diameter and fluorescence using the Complex Object Parametric Analyzer and Sorter (COPAS) technology. Statistical analysis revealed that the liquid shaken culture consisted of two populations of microcolonies that differ by 90 ?m in diameter. The population of small microcolonies of strains expressing GFP from the glaA or faeA promoter comprised 39% and 25% of the culture, respectively. Two populations of microcolonies could also be distinguished when the expression of GFP in these strains was analyzed. The population expressing a low level of GFP consisted of 68% and 44% of the culture, respectively. We also show that mRNA accumulation is heterogeneous within microcolonies of A. niger. Central and peripheral parts of the mycelium were isolated with laser microdissection and pressure catapulting (LMPC), and RNA from these samples was used for quantitative PCR analysis. This analysis showed that the RNA content per hypha was about 45 times higher at the periphery than in the center of the microcolony. Our data imply that the protein production of A. niger can be improved in industrial fermentations by reducing the heterogeneity within the culture.

SUBMITTER: de Bekker C

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3067247 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Heterogeneity of Aspergillus niger microcolonies in liquid shaken cultures.

de Bekker Charissa C van Veluw G Jerre GJ Vinck Arman A Wiebenga L Ad LA Wösten Han A B HA

Applied and environmental microbiology 20101217 4

The fungus Aspergillus niger forms (sub)millimeter microcolonies within a liquid shaken culture. Here, we show that such microcolonies are heterogeneous with respect to size and gene expression. Microcolonies of strains expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP) from the promoter of the glucoamlyase gene glaA or the ferulic acid esterase gene faeA were sorted on the basis of diameter and fluorescence using the Complex Object Parametric Analyzer and Sorter (COPAS) technology. Statistical analysis ...[more]

PMID: 21169437

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Project description:In this study, bagasse was pretreated with ionic liquid (IL) 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([Bmim]Cl) and 1% NaOH solution for initial activation of bagasse. A mixed fermentation of treated bagasse by Aspergillus niger and Candida shehatae showed the optimal conditions with the addition of C. shehatae 12 h later at a 1:1 proportion to A. niger. To further improve the ethanol production and obtain optimal fermentation conditions, a Plackett-Burman design was applied to screen the significant formulation and process variables. The optimal ethanol fermentation conditions with IL pretreated bagasse were determined using response surface methodology by Box-Behnken design. Three variables "initial pH, (NH4)2SO4, fermentation time" were regarded as significant factors in the optimization study. The resulting optimum fermentation conditions for bioethanol was identified as: initial pH of 5.89, (NH4)2SO4 concentration of 0.40 g/50 mL, and fermentation time of 3.60 days. The verification experimental ethanol concentration was 8.14 g/L, which agreed with the predicted value. An enhancement of approximately 153.58% compared with initial fermentation conditions in ethanol production was found using optimized conditions. It demonstrated that optimization methodology had a positive effect on the improvement of ethanol production. Under the optimal fermentation medium and conditions, the ethanol production with IL-pretreated bagasse and untreated bagasse was 8.14 g/L and 5.03 g/L, respectively, which exhibited 62% increase, compared to initial conditions with production of 3.21 g/L and 2.67 g/L, respectively, which displayed 20% increase. Both under optimal and original fermentation conditions, compared to the fermentation medium with untreated bagasse, all the results indicated that IL-pretreated bagasse resulted in higher ethanol production than untreated bagasse, demonstrating that IL-pretreated bagasse successfully increased the ethanol production in the mixed fermentation by A. niger and C. shehatae.

Project description:The industrially important fungus Aspergillus niger feeds naturally on decomposing plant material, for which it is equipped with a range of enzyme systems. A significant proportion of plant material are lipids that might be available either as for energy storage or as membrane building blocks. With 63 potential lipase-encoding genes in its genome, A. niger has the tools to degrade these extracellular lipids. In contrast to polysaccharide-degrading enzyme networks not much is known about the signalling and regulatory processes that control lipase expression and activity in fungi both under laboratory and natural occurring conditions. A pulse of 1 mM of various oils was applied to four bioreactor-grown A. niger cultures to examine (i) whether A. niger responds at the level of gene transcription, (ii) at what time point this effect is detected most accurately, and (iii) whether differences between the response towards oils are observed. The triglyceride olive oil induces genes encoding peroxins and enzymes of fatty acid metabolism. A complex oil mixture extracted from wheat gluten, which is enriched for digalactosyl-diglycerides, induces genes encoding peroxins as well as enzymes of fatty acid metabolism, but with different expression profile when compared to olive oil. Pure digalactosyldiglyceride, a proxy for plant membrane lipids, does not trigger a transcriptional response. Keywords: time course; induction experiment In one week, 4 fermentor cultures were run in 2.2-liter batch fermentors in which A. niger was grown on 100 mM sorbitol. At 14 hours after oxygen supply had switched from headspace to sparger-inlet each fermentor was induced with 22 mL medium which contained 100 mM (final concentration in fermentor: 1 mM) of either olive oil, a complex oil mixture extracted from wheat gluten, pure wheat digalactosyldiglycerides, or was induced with a solution of minimal medium containing only 0.2% (in fermentor, final concentration 0.002%) triton X-100 which served as emulsifier agent. For each fermentor vessel, a sample of 10 mL was taken prior to induction (T=0), or 30 minutes, 1 hour, or 2 hours after induction. Every sample was hybridized onto a single microarray, yielding in total 16 DNA microarrays.

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Heterogeneity of Aspergillus niger microcolonies in liquid shaken cultures.

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Heterogeneity of Aspergillus niger microcolonies in liquid shaken cultures.

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