Specific expression and temperature-dependent expression of the acid protease-encoding gene (pepA) in Aspergillus oryzae in solid-state culture (Rice-Koji)

Acid protease production by solid-state fermentation using Aspergillus oryzae MTCC 5341: optimization of process parameters

Aspergillus oryzae MTCC 5341, when grown on wheat bran as substrate, produces several extracellular acid proteases. Production of the major acid protease (constituting 34% of the total) by solid-state fermentation is optimized. Optimum operating conditions obtained are determined as pH 5, temperature of incubation of 30 degrees C, defatted soy flour addition of 4%, and fermentation time of 120 h, resulting in acid protease production of 8.64 x 10(5) U/g bran. Response-surface methodology is used to generate a predictive model of the combined effects of independent variables such as, pH, temperature, defatted soy flour addition, and fermentation time. The statistical design indicates that all four independent variables have significant effects on acid protease production. Optimum factor levels are pH 5.4, incubation temperature of 31 degrees C, 4.4% defatted soy flour addition, and fermentation time of 123 h to yield a maximum activity of 8.93 x 10(5) U/g bran. Evaluation experiments, carried out to verify the predictions, reveal that A. oryzae produces 8.47 x 10(5) U/g bran, which corresponds to 94.8% of the predicted value. This is the highest acid protease activity reported so far, wherein the fungus produces four times higher activity than previously reported [J Bacteriol 130(1): 48-56, 1977].

Analysis of expressed sequence tags from the fungus Aspergillus oryzae cultured under different conditions

We performed random sequencing of cDNAs from nine biologically or industrially important cultures of the industrially valuable fungus Aspergillus oryzae to obtain expressed sequence tags (ESTs). Consequently, 21 446 raw ESTs were accumulated and subsequently assembled to 7589 non-redundant consensus sequences (contigs). Among all contigs, 5491 (72.4%) were derived from only a particular culture. These included 4735 (62.4%) singletons, i.e. lone ESTs overlapping with no others. These data showed that consideration of culture grown under various conditions as cDNA sources enabled efficient collection of ESTs. BLAST searches against the public databases showed that 2953 (38.9%) of the EST contigs showed significant similarities to deposited sequences with known functions, 793 (10.5%) were similar to hypothetical proteins, and the remaining 3843 (50.6%) showed no significant similarity to sequences in the databases. Culture-specific contigs were extracted on the basis of the EST frequency normalized by the total number for each culture condition. In addition, contig sequences were compared with sequence sets in eukaryotic orthologous groups (KOGs), and classified into the KOG functional categories.

Proteomic analysis of extracellular proteins from Aspergillus oryzae grown under submerged and solid-state culture conditions

Filamentous fungi are widely used for the production of homologous and heterologous proteins. Recently, there has been increasing interest in Aspergillus oryzae because of its ability to produce heterologous proteins in solid-state culture. To provide an overview of protein secretion by A. oryzae in solid-state culture, we carried out a comparative proteome analysis of extracellular proteins in solid-state and submerged (liquid) cultures. Extracellular proteins prepared from both cultures sequentially from 0 to 40 h were subjected to two-dimensional electrophoresis, and protein spots at 40 h were identified by peptide mass fingerprinting using matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry. We also attempted to identify cell wall-bound proteins of the submerged culture. We analyzed 85 spots from the solid-state culture and 110 spots from the submerged culture. We identified a total of 29 proteins, which were classified into 4 groups. Group 1 consisted of extracellular proteins specifically produced in the solid-state growth condition, such as glucoamylase B and alanyl dipeptidyl peptidase. Group 2 consisted of extracellular proteins specifically produced in the submerged condition, such as glucoamylase A (GlaA) and xylanase G2 (XynG2). Group 3 consisted of proteins produced in both conditions, such as xylanase G1. Group 4 consisted of proteins that were secreted to the medium in the solid-state growth condition but trapped in the cell wall in the submerged condition, such as alpha-amylase (TAA) and beta-glucosidase (Bgl). A Northern analysis of seven genes from the four groups suggested that the secretion of TAA and Bgl was regulated by trapping these proteins in the cell wall in submerged culture and that secretion of GlaA and XynG2 was regulated at the posttranscriptional level in the solid-state culture.

Different control mechanisms regulate glucoamylase and protease gene transcription in Aspergillus oryzae in solid-state and submerged fermentation

Solid-state fermentation (SSF) with Aspergillus oryzae results in high levels of secreted protein. However, control mechanisms of gene expression in SSF have been only poorly studied. In this study we show that both glucoamylase (glaB) and protease (alpA, nptB) genes are highly expressed during surface cultivation on wheat-based solid medium, and even higher during cultivation on wheat kernels. In wheat-based liquid medium, low levels of gene expression are observed. Typical SSF cultivation conditions, such as low water activity and the formation of aerial hyphae, did not contribute to the high-level gene expression on wheat-based solid medium. Analysis of wheat-based solid and liquid cultivations showed differences in carbon and nitrogen utilisation and external pH. The results presented show that the difference in regulation of transcription of the alpA and nptB genes in wheat-based liquid and solid medium could be pH dependent, involving a pH-dependent transcription regulator. The results obtained suggest that the difference in regulation of transcription of the glaB gene in wheat-based liquid and solid medium is caused by a difference in carbohydrate degradation and consumption under the different culture conditions.

Development of a novel quadruple auxotrophic host transformation system byargBgene disruption usingadeAgene and exploiting adenine auxotrophy inAspergillus oryzae

We previously designed a triple auxotrophic host-vector system in Aspergillus oryzae by isolating red-colored adenine auxotrophic mutants upon UV mutagenesis of a double auxotrophic host (niaD-sC-). In the present study an effort to exploit this system and construct a novel quadruple auxotrophic host was made by disrupting the argB gene involved in arginine biosynthesis. The argB gene-disruption cassette was generated by fusion PCR, which required only two steps of PCR to insert the selectable marker, adeA, into the target argB gene. The chimeric DNA fragment was transformed into the triple auxotrophic strain (niaD-sC-adeA-) and the argB disruptants were obtained with a high rate of efficiency (approximately 40%). The argB disruptants were characterized by normal colony color and reversal of arginine auxotrophy by introduction of the wild-type argB gene. Quadruple auxotrophic strains (niaD-sC-DeltaargB adeA- or niaD-sC-DeltaargB adeB-) were subsequently isolated upon UV mutagenesis of the triple auxotrophic strain (niaD-sC-DeltaargB) followed by screening of red-colored colonies for adenine auxotrophy. The results obtained showed that the adeA gene served as an efficient selection marker in developing a novel host-vector system with quadruple auxotrophy in A. oryzae, thus providing a powerful tool to breed multiple auxotrophic mutants from a deuteromycete wherein sexual crossing is impossible.

Recent studies of protein secretion by filamentous fungi

Filamentous fungi have been widely exploited for the homologous and heterologous protein production, because of the high capacity of their protein secretion machinery. However, the production of heterologous proteins is often limited while the production of homologous proteins can be very high. Various researches have reported the methods for overcoming this problem and some techniques, such as the fusion gene system, improve the production of heterologous proteins. Recently, the molecular biological study of solid-state culture attracts the attention, because the long history of biological studies has shown that the productivity of protein in the solid-state culture frequently exceeds the productivity of protein in the submerged culture. The recent researches of solid-state culture have revealed the new aspects of protein production in filamentous fungi. Solid-state specific gene expression was observed in the glaB and pepA genes of Aspergillus oryzae. A GC-box and HSE element of the glaB promoter region affected solid-state specific gene expression of this gene. Solid-state culture-specific release of enzymes from the cell wall was also observed in the production of beta-glucosidases in Aspergillus kawachii. Extracellular soluble polysaccharide (ESP) from A. kawachii was concerned with the location of beta-glucosidases. Moreover, ESP and the cell wall fraction of A. kawachii were shown to be involved in the stability of beta-glucosidases. The knowledge of the molecular biology of solid-state culture should provide new approaches for the production of both homologous and heterologous proteins in both submerged culture and solid-state culture of filamentous fungi.