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The composition of the cell wall of Aspergillus niger.

ABSTRACT: 1. The cell-wall composition of Aspergillus niger has been investigated. Analysis shows the presence of six sugars, glucose, galactose, mannose, arabinose, glucosamine and galactosamine, all in the d-configuration, except that a small amount of l-galactose may be present. Sixteen common amino acids are also present. 2. The wall consists chiefly of neutral carbohydrate (73-83%) and hexosamine (9-13%), with smaller amounts of lipid (2-7%), protein (0.5-2.5%) and phosphorus (less than 0.1%). The acetyl content (3.0-3.4%) corresponds to 1.0mole/mole of hexosamine nitrogen. 3. A fractionation of the cell-wall complex was achieved, with or without a preliminary phenol extraction, by using n-sodium hydroxide. Though this caused some degradation, 30-60% of the wall could be solubilized (depending on the preparation). Analyses on several fractions suggest that fractionation procedures bring about some separation of components although not in a clear-cut fashion. 4. Cell-wall preparations were shown to yield a fraction having [alpha](D) approx. +240 degrees (in n-sodium hydroxide) and consisting largely of glucose. This was separated into two subfractions, one of which had [alpha](D)+281 degrees (in n-sodium hydroxide) and had properties resembling the polysaccharide nigeran; the other had [alpha](D) +231 degrees (in n-sodium hydroxide). It is suggested that nigeran is a cell-wall component.

SUBMITTER: Johnston IR

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1207199 | biostudies-other | 1965 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Single cell transcriptomics of neighboring hyphae of Aspergillus niger.

Project description:Single cell profiling was performed to assess differences in RNA accumulation in neighboring hyphae of the fungus Aspergillus niger. A protocol was developed to isolate and amplify RNA from single hyphae or parts thereof. Microarray analysis resulted in a present call for 4 to 7% of the A. niger genes, of which 12% showed heterogeneous RNA levels. These genes belonged to a wide range of gene categories.

| S-EPMC3245611 | biostudies-literature

A seven-membered cell wall related transglycosylase gene family in Aspergillus niger is relevant for cell wall integrity in cell wall mutants with reduced α-glucan or galactomannan

Project description:Chitin is an important fungal cell wall component that is cross-linked to β-glucan for structural integrity. Acquisition of chitin to glucan cross-links has previously been shown to be performed by transglycosylation enzymes in S. cerevisiae, called Congo Red hypersensitive (Crh) enzymes. Here, we characterized the impact of deleting all seven gene members of the crh gene family (crhA-G) in Aspergillus niger on cell wall integrity, cell wall composition and genome-wide gene expression. In this study, we show that the seven-fold knockout strain shows slightly compact plate growth, but no increased sensitivity to cell wall perturbing compounds. Additionally, we found that the cell wall composition of this knockout strain was virtually identical to that of the wild type. In congruence with these data, genome-wide expression analysis revealed very limited changes in gene expression and no signs of activation of the cell wall integrity response pathway. However, deleting the entire crh gene family in cell wall mutants that are deficient in either galactofuranose (ΔugmA) or α-glucan (ΔagsE and ΔagsA, ΔagsE), resulted in a synthetic growth defect and an increased sensitivity towards Congo Red compared the parental strains. Altogether, these results indicate that loss of the crh gene family in A. niger does not trigger the cell wall integrity response in itself, but does play an important role in ensuring cell wall integrity in mutant strains with reduced galactofuranose or α-glucan.

2019-12-21 | GSE142461 | GEO

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