Project description:Genomic and proteomic characterization of the Aspergillus niger isolate, JSC-093350089, collected from U.S. segment surfaces of the International Space Station (ISS) is reported, along with a comparison to the experimentally established strain ATCC 1015. Whole-genome sequencing of JSC-093350089 revealed enhanced genetic variance when compared to publicly available sequences of A. niger strains. Analysis of the isolate’s proteome revealed significant differences in the molecular phenotype of JSC-093350089, including increased abundance of proteins involved in the A. niger starvation response, oxidative stress resistance, cell wall integrity and modulation, and nutrient acquisition. Together, these data reveal the existence of a distinct strain of A. niger onboard the ISS and provide insight into the molecular phenotype that is selected for by melanized fungal species inhabiting spacecraft environments.
Project description:Aspergillus niger produces a variety of lignocellulolytic enzymes (cellulases, hemicellulases, among others) and is regarded as cell factory for the production of heterologous proteins. Therefore, there is a growing interest in the study of its genes and the understanding of the cellular mechanisms in order to expand its applications. On the other hand, we have shown that enzyme production by A. niger is higher when grown forming biofilms than when grown conventionally in submerged systems. The objective of this study was to perform a global transcriptomic analysis and an expression analysis of both lignocellulases and biofilm regulatory genes as compared to A. niger in submerged culture. DNA microarray assays were performed to investigate the global gene expression which yielded information on the expression of more than 90% of A. niger genes. To further this comparison, the two culture systems were supplemented with different carbon sources (glucose, lactose, xylose and maltose) to establish a differential gene expression under different culture conditions. Also, to validate the differential expression qPCR was performed for quantitative comparison of the transcriptional level of genes in both culture systems. Organism : Aspergillus niger, Agilent Aspergillus niger Gene expression 4x44k Array AMADID: 032510 Grant Information: Grant Nº 072-FINCyT-PIN2008 from the National Program of Science and Technology of Peru Contributor: Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Uruguay