The effect of specific growth rate on protein synthesis and secretion in the filamentous fungus Trichoderma reesei

A multi-plex protein expression system for production of complex enzyme formulations in Trichoderma reesei

Heterologous protein production has been challenging in the hyper-cellulolytic fungus, Trichoderma reesei as the species is known for poor transformation efficiency, low homologous recombination frequency, and marginal screening systems for the identification of successful transformants. We have applied the 2A-peptide multi-gene expression system to co-express four proteins, which include three cellulases: a cellobiohydrolase (CBH1), an endoglucanase (EG1), and a β-D-glucosidase (BGL1), as well as the enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) marker protein. We designed a new chassis vector, pTrEno-4X-2A, for this work. Expression of these cellulase enzymes was confirmed by real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR and immunoblot analysis. The activity of each cellulase was assessed using chromogenic substrates, which confirmed the functionality of the enzymes. Expression and activity of these enzymes were proportional to the level of eGFP fluorescence, thereby validating the reliability of this screening technique. An 18-fold differencein protein expression was observed between the first and third genes within the 2A-peptide construct. The availability of this new multi-gene expression and screening tool is expected to greatly impact multi-enzyme applications, such as the production of complex commercial enzyme formulations and metabolic pathway enzymes, especially those destined for cell-free applications.

Thermophilic microbial deconstruction and conversion of natural and transgenic lignocellulose

The potential to convert renewable plant biomasses into fuels and chemicals by microbial processes presents an attractive, less environmentally intense alternative to conventional routes based on fossil fuels. This would best be done with microbes that natively deconstruct lignocellulose and concomitantly form industrially relevant products, but these two physiological and metabolic features are rarely and simultaneously observed in nature. Genetic modification of both plant feedstocks and microbes can be used to increase lignocellulose deconstruction capability and generate industrially relevant products. Separate efforts on plants and microbes are ongoing, but these studies lack a focus on optimal, complementary combinations of these disparate biological systems to obtain a convergent technology. Improving genetic tools for plants have given rise to the generation of low-lignin lines that are more readily solubilized by microorganisms. Most focus on the microbiological front has involved thermophilic bacteria from the genera Caldicellulosiruptor and Clostridium, given their capacity to degrade lignocellulose and to form bio-products through metabolic engineering strategies enabled by ever-improving molecular genetics tools. Bioengineering plant properties to better fit the deconstruction capabilities of candidate consolidated bioprocessing microorganisms has potential to achieve the efficient lignocellulose deconstruction needed for industrial relevance.

Reduced viscosity mutants of Trichoderma reesei with improved industrial fermentation characteristics

Morphological mutants of Trichoderma reesei were isolated following chemical or insertional mutagenesis. The mutant strains were shown to have reduced viscosity under industrially relevant fermentation conditions and to have maintained high specific productivity of secreted protein. This allowed higher biomass concentration to be maintained during the production phase and, consequently, increased volumetric productivity of secreted protein. The causative mutations were traced to four individual genes (designated sfb3, ssb7, seb1, and mpg1). We showed that two of the morphological mutations could be combined in a single strain to further reduce viscosity and enable a 100% increase in volumetric productivity.

Consolidated bioprocessing of cellulose to itaconic acid by a co-culture of Trichoderma reesei and Ustilago maydis

BACKGROUND

Itaconic acid is a bio-derived platform chemical with uses ranging from polymer synthesis to biofuel production. The efficient conversion of cellulosic waste streams into itaconic acid could thus enable the sustainable production of a variety of substitutes for fossil oil based products. However, the realization of such a process is currently hindered by an expensive conversion of cellulose into fermentable sugars. Here, we present the stepwise development of a fully consolidated bioprocess (CBP), which is capable of directly converting recalcitrant cellulose into itaconic acid without the need for separate cellulose hydrolysis including the application of commercial cellulases. The process is based on a synthetic microbial consortium of the cellulase producer Trichoderma reesei and the itaconic acid producing yeast Ustilago maydis. A method for process monitoring was developed to estimate cellulose consumption, itaconic acid formation as well as the actual itaconic acid production yield online during co-cultivation.

RESULTS

The efficiency of the process was compared to a simultaneous saccharification and fermentation setup (SSF). Because of the additional substrate consumption of T. reesei in the CBP, the itaconic acid yield was significantly lower in the CBP than in the SSF. In order to increase yield and productivity of itaconic acid in the CBP, the population dynamics was manipulated by varying the inoculation delay between T. reesei and U. maydis. Surprisingly, neither inoculation delay nor inoculation density significantly affected the population development or the CBP performance. Instead, the substrate availability was the most important parameter. U. maydis was only able to grow and to produce itaconic acid when the cellulose concentration and thus, the sugar supply rate, was high. Finally, the metabolic processes during fed-batch CBP were analyzed in depth by online respiration measurements. Thereby, substrate availability was again identified as key factor also controlling itaconic acid yield. In summary, an itaconic acid titer of 34 g/L with a total productivity of up to 0.07 g/L/h and a yield of 0.16 g/g could be reached during fed-batch cultivation.

CONCLUSION

This study demonstrates the feasibility of consortium-based CBP for itaconic acid production and also lays the fundamentals for the development and improvement of similar microbial consortia for cellulose-based organic acid production.

The effects of deletion of cellobiohydrolase genes on carbon source-dependent growth and enzymatic lignocellulose hydrolysis in Trichoderma reesei

The saprophytic fungus Trichoderma reesei has long been used as a model to study microbial degradation of lignocellulosic biomass. The major cellulolytic enzymes of T. reesei are the cellobiohydrolases CBH1 and CBH2, which constitute more than 70% of total proteins secreted by the fungus. However, their physiological functions and effects on enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose substrates are not sufficiently elucidated. Here, the cellobiohydrolase-encoding genes cbh1 and cbh2 were deleted, individually or combinatively, by using an auxotrophic marker-recycling technique in T. reesei. When cultured on media with different soluble carbon sources, all three deletion strains (Δcbh1, Δcbh2, and Δcbh1Δcbh2) exhibited no dramatic variation in morphological phenotypes, but their growth rates increased apparently when cultured on soluble cellulase-inducing carbon sources. In addition, Δcbh1 showed dramatically reduced growth and Δcbh1Δcbh2 could hardly grew on microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), whereas all strains grew equally on sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC-Na), suggesting that the influence of the CBHs on growth was carbon source-dependent. Moreover, five representative cellulose substrates were used to analyse the influence of the absence of CBHs on saccharification efficiency. CBH1 deficiency significantly affected the enzymatic hydrolysis rates of various cellulose substrates, where acid pre-treated corn stover (PCS) was influenced the least. CBH2 deficiency reduced the hydrolysis of MCC, PCS, and acid pre-treated and delignified corncob but improved the hydrolysis ability of filter paper. These results demonstrate the specific contributions of CBHs to the hydrolysis of different types of biomass, which could facilitate the development of tailor-made strains with highly efficient hydrolysis enzymes for certain biomass types in the biofuel industry.

Quantitative Proteome Profiling Reveals Cellobiose-Dependent Protein Processing and Export Pathways for the Lignocellulolytic Response in Neurospora crassa

Filamentous fungi are intensively used for producing industrial enzymes, including lignocellulases. Employing insoluble cellulose to induce the production of lignocellulases causes some drawbacks, e.g., a complex fermentation operation, which can be overcome by using soluble inducers such as cellobiose. Here, a triple β-glucosidase mutant of Neurospora crassa, which prevents rapid turnover of cellobiose and thus allows the disaccharide to induce lignocellulases, was applied to profile the proteome responses to cellobiose and cellulose (Avicel). Our results revealed a shared proteomic response to cellobiose and Avicel, whose elements included lignocellulases and cellulolytic product transporters. While the cellulolytic proteins showed a correlated increase in protein and mRNA levels, only a moderate correlation was observed on a proteomic scale between protein and mRNA levels (R ² = 0.31). Ribosome biogenesis and rRNA processing were significantly overrepresented in the protein set with increased protein but unchanged mRNA abundances in response to Avicel. Ribosome biogenesis, as well as protein processing and protein export, was also enriched in the protein set that showed increased abundance in response to cellobiose. NCU05895, a homolog of yeast CWH43, is potentially involved in transferring a glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchor to nascent proteins. This protein showed increased abundance but no significant change in mRNA levels. Disruption of CWH43 resulted in a significant decrease in cellulase activities and secreted protein levels in cultures grown on Avicel, suggesting a positive regulatory role for CWH43 in cellulase production. The findings should have an impact on a systems engineering approach for strain improvement for the production of lignocellulases.IMPORTANCE Lignocellulases are important industrial enzymes for sustainable production of biofuels and bio-products. Insoluble cellulose has been commonly used to induce the production of lignocellulases in filamentous fungi, which causes a difficult fermentation operation and enzyme loss due to adsorption to cellulose. The disadvantages can be overcome by using soluble inducers, such as the disaccharide cellobiose. Quantitative proteome profiling of the model filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa revealed cellobiose-dependent pathways for cellulase production, including protein processing and export. A protein (CWH43) potentially involved in protein processing was found to be a positive regulator of lignocellulase production. The cellobiose-dependent mechanisms provide new opportunities to improve the production of lignocellulases in filamentous fungi.

Solid-state fermentation increases secretome complexity in Aspergillus brasiliensis

Aspergillus is used for the industrial production of enzymes and organic acids, mainly by submerged fermentation (SmF). However, solid-state fermentation (SSF) offers several advantages over SmF. Although differences related to lower catabolite repression and substrate inhibition, as well as higher extracellular enzyme production in SSF compared to SmF have been shown, the mechanisms undelaying such differences are still unknown. To explain some differences among SSF and SmF, the secretome of Aspergillus brasiliensis obtained from cultures in a homogeneous physiological state with high glucose concentrations was analyzed. Of the regulated proteins produced by SmF, 74% were downregulated by increasing the glucose concentration, whereas all those produced by SSF were upregulated. The most abundant and upregulated protein found in SSF was the transaldolase, which could perform a moonlighting function in fungal adhesion to the solid support. This study evidenced that SSF: (i) improves the kinetic parameters in relation to SmF, (ii) prevents the catabolite repression, (iii) increases the branching level of hyphae and oxidative metabolism, as well as the concentration and diversity of secreted proteins, and (iv) favors the secretion of typically intracellular proteins that could be involved in fungal adhesion. All these differences can be related to the fact that molds are more specialized to growth in solid materials because they mimic their natural habitat.

Studies on sugar transporter CRT1 reveal new characteristics that are critical for cellulase induction in Trichoderma reesei

BACKGROUND

Trichoderma reesei is an ascomycete fungus that has a tremendous capability of secreting extracellular proteins, mostly lignocellulose-degrading enzymes. Although many aspects of the biology of this organism have been unfolded, the roles of the many sugar transporters coded in its genome are still a mystery with a few exceptions. One of the most interesting sugar transporters that has thus far been discovered is the cellulose response transporter 1 (CRT1), which has been suggested to be either a sugar transporter or a sensor due to its seemingly important role in cellulase induction.

RESULTS

Here we show that CRT1 is a high-affinity cellobiose transporter, whose function can be complemented by the expression of other known cellobiose transporters. Expression of two sequence variants of the crt1 gene in Saccharomyces cerevisiae revealed that only the variant listed in the RUT-C30 genome annotation has the capability to transport cellobiose and lactose. When expressed in the Δ crt1 strain, the variant listed in the QM6a genome annotation offers partial complementation of the cellulase induction, while the expression of the RUT-C30 variant or cellobiose transporters from two other fungal species fully restore the cellulase induction.

CONCLUSIONS

These results add to our knowledge about the fungal metabolism of cellulose-derived oligosaccharides, which have the capability of inducing the cellulase production in many species. They also help us to deepen our understanding of the T. reesei lactose metabolism, which can have important consequences as this sugar is used as the inducer of protein secretion in many industrial processes which employ this species.

Parallelized microscale fed-batch cultivation in online-monitored microtiter plates: implications of media composition and feed strategies for process design and performance

Limited throughput represents a substantial drawback during bioprocess development. In recent years, several commercial microbioreactor systems have emerged featuring parallelized experimentation with optical monitoring. However, many devices remain limited to batch mode and do not represent the fed-batch strategy typically applied on an industrial scale. A workflow for 32-fold parallelized microscale cultivation of protein secreting Corynebacterium glutamicum in microtiter plates incorporating online monitoring, pH control and feeding was developed and validated. Critical interference of the essential media component protocatechuic acid with pH measurement was revealed, but was effectively resolved by 80% concentration reduction without affecting biological performance. Microfluidic pH control and feeding (pulsed, constant and exponential) were successfully implemented: Whereas pH control improved performance only slightly, feeding revealed a much higher optimization potential. Exponential feeding with µ = 0.1 h-1 resulted in the highest product titers. In contrast, other performance indicators such as biomass-specific or volumetric productivity resulted in different optimal feeding regimes.

Tracking localization and secretion of cellulase spatiotemporally and directly in living Trichoderma reesei

BACKGROUND

Filamentous fungi secret hydrolytic enzymes like cellulase and hemicellulase outside the cells, serving as important scavengers of plant biomass in nature and workhorses in the enzyme industry. Unlike the extensive study on the mechanism of cellulase production in fungi, research on spatiotemporal distribution and secretion of cellulase in fungi is lacking, retarding the deeper understanding of the molecular mechanism behind the fungal cellulase production.

RESULT

Recombinant Trichoderma reesei strains RBGL, RCBH, and RCMC were successfully constructed from T. reesei RUT-C30, expressing red fluorescent protein DsRed-tagged versions of β-glucosidase (BGL), cellobiohydrolase (CBH), and endoglucanase (CMC), respectively. With the assistance of these strains, we found that all three cellulase components BGL, CBH, and CMC diffused throughout the whole fungal mycelium with major accumulation at the hyphal apexes. These enzymes located in ER, Golgi, vacuoles and cell membrane/wall, but not septum, and secreted abundantly into the culture medium. Moreover, the major secretion of CBH and CMC started more early than that of BGL. Brefeldin A (BFA) completely blocked cellulase expression and secretion in T. reesei.

CONCLUSION

Based on recombinant T. reesei RBGL, RCBH, and RCMC expressing DsRed-fused versions of BGL, CBH, and CMC, respectively, the distribution and secretion of cellulase production in T. reesei were first visualized directly in a dynamic way, preliminarily mapping the location and secretion of T. reesei cellulase and providing evidence for revealing the secretion pathways of cellulase in T. reesei. The obtained results suggest that cellulase excretion majorly occurs via the conventional ER-Golgi secretory pathway, and might be assisted through unconventional protein secretion pathways.

Trichoderma reesei XYR1 recruits SWI/SNF to facilitate cellulase gene expression

Cellulase gene expression in Trichoderma reesei is highly responsive to environmental cues and is under stringent regulation by multiple transcription factors. XYR1 (Xylanase regulator 1) has been identified as the most important transcriptional activator of cellulase/hemicellulase gene expression although the precise transactivating mechanism remains largely elusive. Here we show that the activation domain of XYR1 interacts with the T. reesei homolog of the TrSNF12 subunit of SWI/SNF complex. Deletion of Trsnf12 markedly impaired the induced cellulase gene expression. Individual loss of other SWI/SNF subunits including the catalytic subunit also severely compromised cellulase gene expression and interfered with loss of histone H4 in the cbh1 and eg1 promoters upon cellulose induction. In addition, we find that the SWI/SNF occupancy on cellulase gene promoters strictly required XYR1 and TrSNF12 but TrSNF12 was dispensable for the XYR1 binding to these promoters. These data suggest a model in which XYR1 recruits SWI/SNF through direct interactions with TrSNF12 to remodel chromatin at cellulase gene promoters, thereby activating cellulase gene expression to initiate the cellulolytic response in T. reesei.

Secretome Dynamics in a Gram-Positive Bacterial Model

Protein secretion is a central biological process in all organisms. Most studies dissecting bacterial secretion mechanisms have focused on Gram-negative cell envelopes such as that of Escherichia coli However, proteomics analyses in Gram negatives is hampered by their outer membrane. Here we studied protein secretion in the Gram-positive bacterium Streptomyces lividans TK24, in which most of the secretome is released in the growth medium. We monitored changes of the secretome as a function of growth phase and medium. We determined distinct protein classes of "house-keeping" secreted proteins that do not change their appearance or abundance in the various media and growth phases. These comprise mainly enzymes involved in cell wall maintenance and basic transport. In addition, we detected significant abundance and content changes to a sub-set of the proteome, as a function of growth in the different media. These did not depend on the media being minimal or rich. Transcriptional regulation but not changes in export machinery components can explain some of these changes. However, additional downstream mechanisms must be important for selective secretome funneling. These observations lay the foundations of using S. lividans as a model organism to study how metabolism is linked to optimal secretion and help develop rational optimization of heterologous protein production.

Cloning, Expression and Characterization of a Novel Cold-adapted β-galactosidase from the Deep-sea Bacterium Alteromonas sp. ML52

The bacterium Alteromonas sp. ML52, isolated from deep-sea water, was found to synthesize an intracellular cold-adapted β-galactosidase. A novel β-galactosidase gene from strain ML52, encoding 1058 amino acids residues, was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. The enzyme belongs to glycoside hydrolase family 2 and is active as a homotetrameric protein. The recombinant enzyme had maximum activity at 35 °C and pH 8 with a low thermal stability over 30 °C. The enzyme also exhibited a K_m of 0.14 mM, a V_max of 464.7 U/mg and a k_cat of 3688.1 S^-1 at 35 °C with 2-nitrophenyl-β-d-galactopyranoside as a substrate. Hydrolysis of lactose assay, performed using milk, indicated that over 90% lactose in milk was hydrolyzed after incubation for 5 h at 25 °C or 24 h at 4 °C and 10 °C, respectively. These properties suggest that recombinant Alteromonas sp. ML52 β-galactosidase is a potential biocatalyst for the lactose-reduced dairy industry.

Abundance of Secreted Proteins of Trichoderma reesei Is Regulated by Light of Different Intensities

In Trichoderma reesei light is an important factor in the regulation of glycoside hydrolase gene expression. We therefore investigated the influence of different light intensities on cellulase activity and protein secretion. Differentially secreted proteins in light and darkness as identified by mass spectrometry included members of different glycoside hydrolase families, such as CBH1, Cel3A, Cel61B, XYN2, and XYN4. Several of the associated genes showed light-dependent regulation on the transcript level. Deletion of the photoreceptor genes blr1 and blr2 resulted in a diminished difference of protein abundance between light and darkness. The amount of secreted proteins including that of the major exo-acting beta-1,4-glucanases CBH1 and CBH2 was generally lower in light-grown cultures than in darkness. In contrast, cbh1 transcript levels increased with increasing light intensity from 700 to 2,000 lux but dopped at high light intensity (5,000 lux). In the photoreceptor mutants Δblr1 and Δblr2 cellulase activity in light was reduced compared to activity in darkness, showing a discrepancy between transcript levels and secreted cellulase activity. Furthermore, evaluation of different light sensitivities revealed an increased light tolerance with respect to cellulase expression of QM9414 compared to its parental strain QM6a. Investigation of one of the differentially expressed proteins between light and darkness, CLF1, revealed its function as a factor involved in regulation of secreted protease activity. T. reesei secretes a different set of proteins in light compared to darkness, this difference being mainly due to the function of the major known photoreceptors. Moreover, cellulase regulation is adjusted to light intensity and improved light tolerance was correlated with increased cellulase production. Our findings further support the hypothesis of a light intensity dependent post-transcriptional regulation of cellulase gene expression in T. reesei.

Establishment of Neurospora crassa as a host for heterologous protein production using a human antibody fragment as a model product

Background

Filamentous fungi are commonly used as production hosts for bulk enzymes in biotechnological applications. Their robust and quick growth combined with their ability to secrete large amounts of protein directly into the culture medium makes fungi appealing organisms for the generation of novel production systems. The red bread mold Neurospora crassa has long been established as a model system in basic research. It can be very easily genetically manipulated and a wealth of molecular tools and mutants are available. In addition, N. crassa is very fast growing and non-toxic. All of these features point to a high but so far untapped potential of this fungus for biotechnological applications. In this study, we used genetic engineering and bioprocess development in a design-build-test-cycle process to establish N. crassa as a production host for heterologous proteins.

Results

The human antibody fragment HT186-D11 was fused to a truncated version of the endogenous enzyme glucoamylase (GLA-1), which served as a carrier protein to achieve secretion into the culture medium. A modular expression cassette was constructed and tested under the control of different promoters. Protease activity was identified as a major limitation of the production strain, and the effects of different mutations causing protease deficiencies were compared. Furthermore, a parallel bioreactor system (1 L) was employed to develop and optimize a production process, including the comparison of different culture media and cultivation parameters. After successful optimization of the production strain and the cultivation conditions an exemplary scale up to a 10 L stirred tank reactor was performed.

Conclusions

The data of this study indicate that N. crassa is suited for the production and secretion of heterologous proteins. Controlling expression by the optimized promoter Pccg1nr in a fourfold protease deletion strain resulted in the successful secretion of the heterologous product with estimated yields of 3 mg/L of the fusion protein. The fungus could easily be cultivated in bioreactors and a first scale-up was successful. The system holds therefore much potential, warranting further efforts in optimization.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12934-017-0734-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Analysis of Light- and Carbon-Specific Transcriptomes Implicates a Class of G-Protein-Coupled Receptors in Cellulose Sensing

In fungi, most metabolic processes are subject to regulation by light. For Trichoderma reesei, light-dependent regulation of cellulase gene expression is specifically shown. Therefore, we intended to unravel the relationship between regulation of enzymes by the carbon source and regulation of enzymes by light. Our two-dimensional analysis included inducing and repressing carbon sources which we used to compare light-specific regulation to dark-specific regulation and to rule out effects specific for a single carbon source. We found close connections with respect to gene regulation as well as significant differences in dealing with carbon in the environment in light and darkness. Moreover, our analyses showed an intricate regulation mechanism for substrate degradation potentially involving surface sensing and provide a basis for knowledge-based screening for strain improvement.

In fungi, most metabolic processes are subject to regulation by light. Trichoderma reesei is adapted to degradation of plant cell walls and regulates production of the required enzymes in a manner dependent on the nutrient source and the light status. Here we investigated the interrelated relevance of two regulation levels of the transcriptome of T. reesei: light regulation and carbon source-dependent control. We show that the carbon source (cellulose, lactose, sophorose, glucose, or glycerol) is the major source of variation, with light having a modulating effect on transcript regulation. A total of 907 genes were regulated under cellulase-inducing conditions in light, and 947 genes were regulated in darkness, with 530 genes overlapping (1,324 in total). Only 218 of the 1,324 induction-specific genes were independent of light and not regulated by the BLR1, BLR2, and ENV1 photoreceptors. Analysis of the genomic distribution of genes regulated by light upon growth on cellulose revealed considerable overlap of light-regulated clusters with induction-specific clusters and carbohydrate-active enzyme (CAZyme) clusters. Further, we found evidence for the operation of a sensing mechanism for solid cellulosic substrates, with regulation of genes such as swo1, cip1, and cip2 or of genes encoding hydrophobins which is related to the cyclic AMP (cAMP)-dependent regulatory output of ENV1. We identified class XIII G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) CSG1 and CSG2 in T. reesei as putative cellulose/glucose-sensing GPCRs. Our data indicate that the cellulase regulation pathway is bipartite, comprising a section corresponding to transcriptional regulation and one corresponding to posttranscriptional regulation, with the two connected by the function of CSG1.

IMPORTANCE In fungi, most metabolic processes are subject to regulation by light. For Trichoderma reesei, light-dependent regulation of cellulase gene expression is specifically shown. Therefore, we intended to unravel the relationship between regulation of enzymes by the carbon source and regulation of enzymes by light. Our two-dimensional analysis included inducing and repressing carbon sources which we used to compare light-specific regulation to dark-specific regulation and to rule out effects specific for a single carbon source. We found close connections with respect to gene regulation as well as significant differences in dealing with carbon in the environment in light and darkness. Moreover, our analyses showed an intricate regulation mechanism for substrate degradation potentially involving surface sensing and provide a basis for knowledge-based screening for strain improvement.

Process relevant screening of cellulolytic organisms for consolidated bioprocessing

BACKGROUND

Although the biocatalytic conversion of cellulosic biomass could replace fossil oil for the production of various compounds, it is often not economically viable due to the high costs of cellulolytic enzymes. One possibility to reduce costs is consolidated bioprocessing (CBP), integrating cellulase production, hydrolysis of cellulose, and the fermentation of the released sugars to the desired product into one process step. To establish such a process, the most suitable cellulase-producing organism has to be identified. Thereby, it is crucial to evaluate the candidates under target process conditions. In this work, the chosen model process was the conversion of cellulose to the platform chemical itaconic acid by a mixed culture of a cellulolytic fungus with Aspergillus terreus as itaconic acid producer. Various cellulase producers were analyzed by the introduced freeze assay that measures the initial carbon release rate, quantifying initial cellulase activity under target process conditions. Promising candidates were then characterized online by monitoring their respiration activity metabolizing cellulose to assess the growth and enzyme production dynamics.

RESULTS

The screening of five different cellulase producers with the freeze assay identified Trichoderma reesei and Penicillium verruculosum as most promising. The measurement of the respiration activity revealed a retarded induction of cellulase production for P. verruculosum but a similar cellulase production rate afterwards, compared to T. reesei. The freeze assay measurement depicted that P. verruculosum reaches the highest initial carbon release rate among all investigated cellulase producers. After a modification of the cultivation procedure, these results were confirmed by the respiration activity measurement. To compare both methods, a correlation between the measured respiration activity and the initial carbon release rate of the freeze assay was introduced. The analysis revealed that the different initial enzyme/cellulose ratios as well as a discrepancy in cellulose digestibility are the main differences between the two approaches.

CONCLUSIONS

With two complementary methods to quantify cellulase activity and the dynamics of cellulase production for CBP applications, T. reesei and P. verruculosum were identified as compatible candidates for the chosen model process. The presented methods can easily be adapted to screen for suitable cellulose degrading organisms for various other applications.

Whole-genome metabolic model of Trichoderma reesei built by comparative reconstruction

BACKGROUND

Trichoderma reesei is one of the main sources of biomass-hydrolyzing enzymes for the biotechnology industry. There is a need for improving its enzyme production efficiency. The use of metabolic modeling for the simulation and prediction of this organism's metabolism is potentially a valuable tool for improving its capabilities. An accurate metabolic model is needed to perform metabolic modeling analysis.

RESULTS

A whole-genome metabolic model of T. reesei has been reconstructed together with metabolic models of 55 related species using the metabolic model reconstruction algorithm CoReCo. The previously published CoReCo method has been improved to obtain better quality models. The main improvements are the creation of a unified database of reactions and compounds and the use of reaction directions as constraints in the gap-filling step of the algorithm. In addition, the biomass composition of T. reesei has been measured experimentally to build and include a specific biomass equation in the model.

CONCLUSIONS

The improvements presented in this work on the CoReCo pipeline for metabolic model reconstruction resulted in higher-quality metabolic models compared with previous versions. A metabolic model of T. reesei has been created and is publicly available in the BIOMODELS database. The model contains a biomass equation, reaction boundaries and uptake/export reactions which make it ready for simulation. To validate the model, we dem1onstrate that the model is able to predict biomass production accurately and no stoichiometrically infeasible yields are detected. The new T. reesei model is ready to be used for simulations of protein production processes.

Efficient evaluation of cellulose digestibility by Trichoderma reesei Rut-C30 cultures in online monitored shake flasks

Background

Pretreated lignocellulosic biomass is considered as a suitable feedstock for the sustainable production of chemicals. However, the recalcitrant nature of cellulose often results in very cost-intensive overall production processes. A promising concept to reduce the costs is consolidated bioprocessing, which integrates in a single step cellulase production, cellulose hydrolysis, and fermentative conversion of produced sugars into a valuable product. This approach, however, requires assessing the digestibility of the applied celluloses and, thus, the released sugar amount during the fermentation. Since the released sugars are completely taken up by Trichoderma reesei Rut-C30 and the sugar consumption is stoichiometrically coupled to oxygen uptake, the respiration activity was measured to evaluate the digestibility of cellulose.

Results

The method was successfully tested on commercial cellulosic substrates identifying a correlation between the respiration activity and the crystallinity of the substrate. Pulse experiments with cellulose and cellulases suggested that the respiration activity of T. reesei on cellulose can be divided into two distinct phases, one limited by enzyme activity and one by cellulose-binding-sites. The impact of known (cellobiose, sophorose, urea, tween 80, peptone) and new (miscanthus steepwater) compounds enhancing cellulase production was evaluated. Furthermore, the influence of two different pretreatment methods, the OrganoCat and OrganoSolv process, on the digestibility of beech wood saw dust was tested.

Conclusions

The introduced method allows an online evaluation of cellulose digestibility in complex and non-complex cultivation media. As the measurements are performed under fermentation conditions, it is a valuable tool to test different types of cellulose for consolidated bioprocessing applications. Furthermore, the method can be applied to identify new compounds, which influence cellulase production.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12934-016-0567-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

High cell density cultivation of six fungal strains efficient in azo dye bioremediation

This work aims at optimizing the high cell density fungal cultivation for producing large quantities of fungal biomass to be used in azo dye residues bioremediation. In our previous studies the efficacy of using certain fungal strains to decolorize a range of commercial textile dyes of different structures (azo, disazo) were investigated. Several promising fungal strains belonging to Aspergillus tubigenesis, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus terreus, and Aspergillus fumigates demonstrated high capacity in decolorizing various azo dyes. This study focuses on the high cell density cultivation of the fungal strains identified as potential bioremediation agents. The study includes the optimization of all parameters involved in bioprocess development for high cell density cultivation of six promising fungal strains. The growth of the fungal strains was tested on the sucrose medium in 7 l-fermenter. The growth of these fungal strains having the capacity to accumulate large quantities of biomass was also tested in medium containing molasses as a cheap substrate. The residual molasses, biomass dry weight and protein content of the six fungal strains showed that the strains 20 and 2 were marked by the highest protein content. In this study a comparative analysis between the results of dry weight, residual molasses and protein content of geowth of the strains 20, 5 and 2 under uncontrolled and controlled pH of media in batch fermentation was studied to follow the accumulation of biomass and protein production in the growth media. The results indicate that the dry weight accumulated by strains No. 20, 5 and 2 grown on molasses was better than those of strains grown on sucrose. Fungal strain No. 5 had the highest biomass dry weight accumulation. The study shows that the molasses as cheaper sugar sources were better than sucrose for growing fungal biomass.

Heterologous gene expression in filamentous fungi

Filamentous fungi are critical to production of many commercial enzymes and organic compounds. Fungal-based systems have several advantages over bacterial-based systems for protein production because high-level secretion of enzymes is a common trait of their decomposer lifestyle. Furthermore, in the large-scale production of recombinant proteins of eukaryotic origin, the filamentous fungi become the vehicle of choice due to critical processes shared in gene expression with other eukaryotic organisms. The complexity and relative dearth of understanding of the physiology of filamentous fungi, compared to bacteria, have hindered rapid development of these organisms as highly efficient factories for the production of heterologous proteins. In this review, we highlight several of the known benefits and challenges in using filamentous fungi (particularly Aspergillus spp., Trichoderma reesei, and Neurospora crassa) for the production of proteins, especially heterologous, nonfungal enzymes. We review various techniques commonly employed in recombinant protein production in the filamentous fungi, including transformation methods, selection of gene regulatory elements such as promoters, protein secretion factors such as the signal peptide, and optimization of coding sequence. We provide insights into current models of host genomic defenses such as repeat-induced point mutation and quelling. Furthermore, we examine the regulatory effects of transcript sequences, including introns and untranslated regions, pre-mRNA (messenger RNA) processing, transcript transport, and mRNA stability. We anticipate that this review will become a resource for researchers who aim at advancing the use of these fascinating organisms as protein production factories, for both academic and industrial purposes, and also for scientists with general interest in the biology of the filamentous fungi.

Quantitative Site-Specific Phosphoproteomics of Trichoderma reesei Signaling Pathways upon Induction of Hydrolytic Enzyme Production

The filamentous fungus Trichoderma reesei is used for industrial production of secreted enzymes including carbohydrate active enzymes, such as cellulases and hemicellulases. The production of many of these enzymes by T. reesei is influenced by the carbon source it grows on, where the regulation system controlling hydrolase genes involves various signaling pathways. T. reesei was cultivated in the presence of sorbitol, a carbon source that does not induce the production of cellulases and hemicellulases, and then exposed to either sophorose or spent-grain extract, which are efficient inducers of the enzyme production. Specific changes at phosphorylation sites were investigated in relation to the production of cellulases and hemicellulases using an MS-based framework. Proteome-wide phosphorylation following carbon source exchange was investigated in the early stages of induction: 0, 2, 5, and 10 min. The workflow involved sequential trypsin digestion, TiO2 enrichment, and MS analysis using a Q Exactive mass spectrometer. We report on the identification and quantitation of 1721 phosphorylation sites. Investigation of the data revealed a complex signaling network activated upon induction involving components related to light-mediated cellulase induction, osmoregulation, and carbon sensing. Changes in protein phosphorylation were detected in the glycolytic pathway, suggesting an inhibition of glucose catabolism at 10 min after the addition of sophorose and as early as 2 min after the addition of spent-grain extract. Differential phosphorylation of factors related to carbon storage, intracellular trafficking, cytoskeleton, and cellulase gene regulation were also observed.

Genome wide analysis of protein production load in Trichoderma reesei

BACKGROUND

The filamentous fungus Trichoderma reesei (teleomorph Hypocrea jecorina) is a widely used industrial host organism for protein production. In industrial cultivations, it can produce over 100 g/l of extracellular protein, mostly constituting of cellulases and hemicellulases. In order to improve protein production of T. reesei the transcriptional regulation of cellulases and secretory pathway factors have been extensively studied. However, the metabolism of T. reesei under protein production conditions has not received much attention.

RESULTS

To understand the physiology and metabolism of T. reesei under protein production conditions we carried out a well-controlled bioreactor experiment with extensive analysis. We used minimal media to make the data amenable for modelling and three strain pairs to cover different protein production levels. With RNA-sequencing transcriptomics we detected the concentration of the carbon source as the most important determinant of the transcriptome. As the major transcriptional response concomitant to protein production we detected the induction of selected genes that were putatively regulated by xyr1 and were related to protein transport, amino acid metabolism and transcriptional regulation. We found novel metabolic responses such as production of glycerol and a cellotriose-like compound. We then used this cultivation data for flux balance analysis of T. reesei metabolism and demonstrate for the first time the use of genome wide stoichiometric metabolic modelling for T. reesei. We show that our model can predict protein production rate and provides novel insight into the metabolism of protein production. We also provide this unprecedented cultivation and transcriptomics data set for future modelling efforts.

CONCLUSIONS

The use of stoichiometric modelling can open a novel path for the improvement of protein production in T. reesei. Based on this we propose sulphur assimilation as a major limiting factor of protein production. As an organism with exceptional protein production capabilities modelling of T. reesei can provide novel insight also to other less productive organisms.

Involvement of the adaptor protein 3 complex in lignocellulase secretion in Neurospora crassa revealed by comparative genomic screening

BACKGROUND

Lignocellulase hypersecretion has been achieved in industrial fungal workhorses such as Trichoderma reesei, but the underlying mechanism associated with this process is not well understood. Although previous comparative genomic studies have revealed that the mutagenic T. reesei strain RUT-C30 harbors hundreds of mutations compared with its parental strain QM6a, how these mutations actually contribute to the hypersecretion phenotype remains to be elucidated.

RESULTS

In this study, we systematically screened gene knockout (KO) mutants in the cellulolytic fungus Neurospora crassa, which contains orthologs of potentially defective T. reesei RUT-C30 mutated genes. Of the 86 deletion mutants screened in N. crassa, 12 exhibited lignocellulase production more than 25% higher than in the wild-type (WT) strain and 4 showed nearly 25% lower secretion. We observed that the deletion of Ncap3m (NCU03998), which encodes the μ subunit of the adaptor protein 3 (AP-3) complex in N. crassa, led to the most significant increase in lignocellulase secretion under both Avicel and xylan culture conditions. Moreover, strains lacking the β subunit of the AP-3 complex, encoded by Ncap3b (NCU06569), had a similar phenotype to ΔNcap3m, suggesting that the AP-3 complex is involved in lignocellulase secretion in N. crassa. We also found that the transcriptional abundance of major lignocellulase genes in ΔNcap3m was maintained at a relatively higher level during the late stage of fermentation compared with the WT, which might add to the hypersecretion phenotype. Finally, we found that importation of the T. reesei ap3m ortholog Trap3m into ΔNcap3m can genetically restore secretion of lignocellulases to normal levels, which suggests that the effect of the AP-3 complex on lignocellulase secretion is conserved in cellulolytic ascomycetes.

CONCLUSIONS

Using the model cellulolytic fungus N. crassa, we explored potential hypersecretion-related mutations in T. reesei strain RUT-C30. Through systematic genetic screening of 86 corresponding orthologous KO mutants in N. crassa, we identified several genes, particularly those encoding the AP-3 complex that contribute to lignocellulase secretion. These findings will be useful for strain improvement in future lignocellulase and biomass-based chemical production.

Genome-wide analysis of the endoplasmic reticulum stress response during lignocellulase production in Neurospora crassa

BACKGROUND

Lignocellulolytic fungal cells suffer endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress during lignocellulase synthesis; however, an understanding of this integrated process on a genome-wide scale remains poor. Here, we undertook a systematic investigation of this process in Neurospora crassa (N. crassa) using transcriptomic analysis coupled with genetic screens.

RESULTS

A set of 766 genes was identified as the ER stress response targets (ESRTs) in N. crassa under cellulose utilization conditions. Among these, the expression of 223 and 186 genes showed dependence on IRE-1 and HAC-1, respectively. A total of 527 available mutants for ESRT genes were screened, 249 of which exhibited ER stress susceptibility, including 100 genes with unknown function. Disruption of ire-1 or hac-1 in N. crassa did not affect transcriptional induction of lignocellulase genes by cellulose but severely affected secretion of the corresponding enzymes. A global investigation of transcription factors (TFs) discovered three novel regulators (RES-1, RES-2, RRG-2) involved in lignocellulase secretion. Production of lignocellulases in Δres-1 increased by more than 30% in comparison to wild type (WT), while secretion decreased by nearly 30% in strains Δres-2 and Δrrg-2. Transcriptional profiling of the three TF mutants suggests they are deeply involved in lignocellulase secretion and ER stress response.

CONCLUSIONS

Here, we determined the transcriptional scope of the ER stress response during lignocellulase synthesis in the model cellulolytic fungus N. crassa. Through genome-wide mutant screening and analysis, dozens of novel genes were discovered to be involved in the process. The findings of this work will be useful for strain improvement to facilitate lignocellulase and biomass-based chemical production.

Intracellular pH responses in the industrially important fungus Trichoderma reesei

Preserving an optimal intracellular pH is critical for cell fitness and productivity. The pH homeostasis of the industrially important filamentous fungus Trichoderma reesei (Hypocrea jecorina) is largely unexplored. We analyzed the impact of growth conditions on regulation of intracellular pH of the strain Rut-C30 and the strain M106 derived from the Rut-C30 that accumulates L-galactonic acid-from provided galacturonic acid-as a consequence of L-galactonate dehydratase deletion. For live-cell measurements of intracellular pH, we used the genetically encoded ratiometric pH-sensitive fluorescent protein RaVC. Glucose and lactose, used as carbon sources, had specific effects on intracellular pH of T. reesei. The growth in lactose-containing medium extensively acidified cytosol, while intracellular pH of hyphae cultured in a medium with glucose remained at a higher level. The strain M106 maintained higher intracellular pH in the presence of D-galacturonic acid than its parental strain Rut-C30. Acidic external pH caused significant acidification of cytosol. Altogether, the pH homeostasis of T. reesei Rut-C30 strain is sensitive to extracellular pH and the degree of acidification depends on carbon source.

The transcriptome of lae1 mutants of Trichoderma reesei cultivated at constant growth rates reveals new targets of LAE1 function

Background

The putative methyltransferase LaeA is a global regulator that affects the expression of multiple secondary metabolite gene clusters in several fungi. In Trichoderma reesei, its ortholog LAE1 appears to predominantly regulate genes involved in increasing competitive fitness in its environment, including expression of cellulases and polysaccharide hydrolases. A drawback in all studies related to LaeA/LAE1 function so far, however, is that the respective loss-of-function and overexpressing mutants display different growth rates. Thus some of the properties attributed to LaeA/LAE1 could be simply due to changes of the growth rate.

Results

We cultivated T. reesei, a Δlae1 mutant and a lae1-overexpressing strain in chemostats on glucose at two different growth rates (0.075 and 0.020 h^-1) which resemble growth rates at repressing and derepressing conditions, respectively. Under these conditions, the effect of modulating LAE1 expression was mainly visible in the Δlae1 mutant, whereas the overexpressing strain showed little differences to the parent strain. The effect on the expression of some gene categories identified earlier (polyketide synthases, heterokaryon incompatibility proteins, PTH11-receptors) was confirmed, but in addition GCN5-N-acetyltransferases, amino acid permeases and flavin monooxygenases were identified as so far unknown major targets of LAE1 action. LAE1 was also shown to interfere with the regulation of expression of several genes by the growth rate. About a tenth of the genes differentially expressed in the Δlae1 mutant under either growth condition were found to be clustered in the genome, but no specific gene group was associated with this phenomenon.

Conclusions

Our data show that – using T. reesei LAE1 as a model - the investigation of transcriptome in regulatory mutants at constant growth rates leads to new insights into the physiological roles of the respective regulator.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2164-15-447) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Making recombinant proteins in filamentous fungi- are we expecting too much?

Hosts used for the production of recombinant proteins are typically high-protein secreting mutant strains that have been selected for a specific purpose, such as efficient production of cellulose-degrading enzymes. Somewhat surprisingly, sequencing of the genomes of a series of mutant strains of the cellulolytic Trichoderma reesei, widely used as an expression host for recombinant gene products, has shed very little light on the nature of changes that boost high-level protein secretion. While it is generally agreed and shown that protein secretion in filamentous fungi occurs mainly through the hyphal tip, there is growing evidence that secretion of proteins also takes place in sub-apical regions. Attempts to increase correct folding and thereby the yields of heterologous proteins in fungal hosts by co-expression of cellular chaperones and foldases have resulted in variable success; underlying reasons have been explored mainly at the transcriptional level. The observed physiological changes in fungal strains experiencing increasing stress through protein overexpression under strong gene promoters also reflect the challenge the host organisms are experiencing. It is evident, that as with other eukaryotes, fungal endoplasmic reticulum is a highly dynamic structure. Considering the above, there is an emerging body of work exploring the use of weaker expression promoters to avoid undue stress. Filamentous fungi have been hailed as candidates for the production of pharmaceutically relevant proteins for therapeutic use. One of the biggest challenges in terms of fungally produced heterologous gene products is their mode of glycosylation; fungi lack the functionally important terminal sialylation of the glycans that occurs in mammalian cells. Finally, exploration of the metabolic pathways and fluxes together with the development of sophisticated fermentation protocols may result in new strategies to produce recombinant proteins in filamentous fungi.

Screening of candidate regulators for cellulase and hemicellulase production in Trichoderma reesei and identification of a factor essential for cellulase production

BACKGROUND

The soft rot ascomycetal fungus Trichoderma reesei is utilized for industrial production of secreted enzymes, especially lignocellulose degrading enzymes. T. reesei uses several different enzymes for the degradation of plant cell wall-derived material, including 9 characterized cellulases, 15 characterized hemicellulases and at least 42 genes predicted to encode cellulolytic or hemicellulolytic activities. Production of cellulases and hemicellulases is modulated by environmental and physiological conditions. Several regulators affecting the expression of cellulase and hemicellulase genes have been identified but more factors still unknown are believed to be present in the genome of T. reesei.

RESULTS

We have used transcriptional profiling data from T. reesei cultures in which cellulase/hemicellulase production was induced by the addition of different lignocellulose-derived materials to identify putative novel regulators for cellulase and hemicellulase genes. Based on this induction data, supplemented with other published genome-wide data on different protein production conditions, 28 candidate regulatory genes were selected for further studies and they were overexpressed in T. reesei. Overexpression of seven genes led to at least 1.5-fold increased production of cellulase and/or xylanase activity in the modified strains as compared to the parental strain. Deletion of gene 77513, here designated as ace3, was found to be detrimental for cellulase production and for the expression of several cellulase genes studied. This deletion also significantly reduced xylanase activity and expression of xylan-degrading enzyme genes. Furthermore, our data revealed the presence of co-regulated chromosomal regions containing carbohydrate-active enzyme genes and candidate regulatory genes.

CONCLUSIONS

Transcriptional profiling results from glycoside hydrolase induction experiments combined with a previous study of specific protein production conditions was shown to be an effective method for finding novel candidate regulatory genes affecting the production of cellulases and hemicellulases. Recombinant strains with improved cellulase and/or xylanase production properties were constructed, and a gene essential for cellulase gene expression was found. In addition, more evidence was gained on the chromatin level regional regulation of carbohydrate-active enzyme gene expression.

Kinetic transcriptome analysis reveals an essentially intact induction system in a cellulase hyper-producer Trichoderma reesei strain

BACKGROUND

The filamentous fungus Trichoderma reesei is the main industrial cellulolytic enzyme producer. Several strains have been developed in the past using random mutagenesis, and despite impressive performance enhancements, the pressure for low-cost cellulases has stimulated continuous research in the field. In this context, comparative study of the lower and higher producer strains obtained through random mutagenesis using systems biology tools (genome and transcriptome sequencing) can shed light on the mechanisms of cellulase production and help identify genes linked to performance. Previously, our group published comparative genome sequencing of the lower and higher producer strains NG 14 and RUT C30. In this follow-up work, we examine how these mutations affect phenotype as regards the transcriptome and cultivation behaviour.

RESULTS

We performed kinetic transcriptome analysis of the NG 14 and RUT C30 strains of early enzyme production induced by lactose using bioreactor cultivations close to an industrial cultivation regime. RUT C30 exhibited both earlier onset of protein production (3 h) and higher steady-state productivity. A rather small number of genes compared to previous studies were regulated (568), most of them being specific to the NG 14 strain (319). Clustering analysis highlighted similar behaviour for some functional categories and allowed us to distinguish between induction-related genes and productivity-related genes. Cross-comparison of our transcriptome data with previously identified mutations revealed that most genes from our dataset have not been mutated. Interestingly, the few mutated genes belong to the same clusters, suggesting that these clusters contain genes playing a role in strain performance.

CONCLUSIONS

This is the first kinetic analysis of a transcriptomic study carried out under conditions approaching industrial ones with two related strains of T. reesei showing distinctive cultivation behaviour. Our study sheds some light on some of the events occurring in these strains following induction by lactose. The fact that few regulated genes have been affected by mutagenesis suggests that the induction mechanism is essentially intact compared to that for the wild-type isolate QM6a and might be engineered for further improvement of T. reesei. Genes from two specific clusters might be potential targets for such genetic engineering.

Investigations on hydrolytic activities from Stachybotrys microspora and their use as an alternative in yeast DNA extraction

Stachybotrys microspora is a filamentous fungus characterized by the secretion of multiple hydrolytic activities (cellulolytic and non-cellulolytic enzymes). The production of these biocatalysts was studied under submerged culture using glucose, cellulose, and wheat bran as carbon sources. Endoglucanases, pectinases, xylanases, β-glucanases, chitinases, and proteases were induced on cellulose-based medium and repressed on glucose in both strains with higher amounts produced by the mutant. β-glucosidases were roughly equally produced by both strains under glucose and cellulose conditions. The yield of chitinases, β-glucanases, and proteases produced by Stachybotrys strains was as much higher than the commercialized lysing enzyme called "zymolyase," currently used in yeast DNA extraction. In this context, we showed that S. microspora hydrolases can be successfully applied in the extraction of yeast DNA.

Development of highly efficient, low-cost lignocellulolytic enzyme systems in the post-genomic era

The current high cost of lignocellulolytic enzymes is a major bottleneck in the economic bioconversion of lignocellulosic biomass to fuels and chemicals. Fungal lignocellulolytic enzyme systems are secreted at high levels, making them the most promising starting points for further development of highly efficient lignocellulolytic enzyme systems. In this paper, recent advances in improvement of fungal lignocellulolytic enzyme systems are reviewed, with an emphasis on the achievements made using genomic approaches. A general strategy for lignocellulolytic enzyme system development is proposed, including the improvement of the hydrolysis efficiencies and productivities of current enzyme systems. The applications of genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic analysis methods in examining the composition of native enzyme systems, discovery of novel enzymes and synergistic proteins from natural sources, and understanding of regulatory mechanisms for lignocellulolytic enzyme biosynthesis are summarized. By combining systems biology and synthetic biology tools, engineered fungal strains are expected to produce high levels of optimized lignocellulolytic enzyme systems.

Metabolic engineering of inducer formation for cellulase and hemicellulase gene expression in Trichoderma reesei

The filamentous fungus T. reeseiis today a paradigm for the commercial scale production of different plant cell wall degrading enzymes mainly cellulases and hemicellulases. Its enzymes have a long history of safe use in industry and well established applications are found within the pulp, paper, food, feed or textile processing industries. However, when these enzymes are to be used for the saccharification of cellulosic plant biomass to simple sugars which can be further converted to biofuels or other biorefinery products, and thus compete with chemicals produced from fossil sources, additional efforts are needed to reduce costs and maximize yield and efficiency of the produced enzyme mixtures. One approach to this end is the use of genetic engineering to manipulate the biochemical and regulatory pathways that operate during enzyme production and control enzyme yield. This review aims at a description of the state of art in this area.

Correlation of gene expression and protein production rate - a system wide study

BACKGROUND

Growth rate is a major determinant of intracellular function. However its effects can only be properly dissected with technically demanding chemostat cultivations in which it can be controlled. Recent work on Saccharomyces cerevisiae chemostat cultivations provided the first analysis on genome wide effects of growth rate. In this work we study the filamentous fungus Trichoderma reesei (Hypocrea jecorina) that is an industrial protein production host known for its exceptional protein secretion capability. Interestingly, it exhibits a low growth rate protein production phenotype.

RESULTS

We have used transcriptomics and proteomics to study the effect of growth rate and cell density on protein production in chemostat cultivations of T. reesei. Use of chemostat allowed control of growth rate and exact estimation of the extracellular specific protein production rate (SPPR). We find that major biosynthetic activities are all negatively correlated with SPPR. We also find that expression of many genes of secreted proteins and secondary metabolism, as well as various lineage specific, mostly unknown genes are positively correlated with SPPR. Finally, we enumerate possible regulators and regulatory mechanisms, arising from the data, for this response.

CONCLUSIONS

Based on these results it appears that in low growth rate protein production energy is very efficiently used primarly for protein production. Also, we propose that flux through early glycolysis or the TCA cycle is a more fundamental determining factor than growth rate for low growth rate protein production and we propose a novel eukaryotic response to this i.e. the lineage specific response (LSR).

The phosducin-like protein PhLP1 impacts regulation of glycoside hydrolases and light response in Trichoderma reesei

BACKGROUND

In the biotechnological workhorse Trichoderma reesei (Hypocrea jecorina) transcription of cellulase genes as well as efficiency of the secreted cellulase mixture are modulated by light. Components of the heterotrimeric G-protein pathway interact with light-dependent signals, rendering this pathway a key regulator of cellulase gene expression.

RESULTS

As regulators of heterotrimeric G-protein signaling, class I phosducin-like proteins, are assumed to act as co-chaperones for G-protein beta-gamma folding and exert their function in response to light in higher eukaryotes. Our results revealed light responsive transcription of the T. reesei class I phosducin-like protein gene phlp1 and indicate a light dependent function of PhLP1 also in fungi. We showed the functions of PhLP1, GNB1 and GNG1 in the same pathway, with one major output being the regulation of transcription of glycoside hydrolase genes including cellulase genes in T. reesei. We found no direct correlation between the growth rate and global regulation of glycoside hydrolases, which suggests that regulation of growth does not occur only at the level of substrate degradation efficiency.Additionally, PhLP1, GNB1 and GNG1 are all important for proper regulation of light responsiveness during long term exposure. In their absence, the amount of light regulated genes increased from 2.7% in wild type to 14% in Δphlp1. Besides from the regulation of degradative enzymes, PhLP1 was also found to impact on the transcription of genes involved in sexual development, which was in accordance with decreased efficiency of fruiting body formation in Δphlp1. The lack of GNB1 drastically diminished ascospore discharge in T. reesei.

CONCLUSIONS

The heterotrimeric G-protein pathway is crucial for the interconnection of nutrient signaling and light response of T. reesei, with the class I phosducin-like protein PhLP1, GNB1 and GNG1 acting as important nodes, which influence light responsiveness, glycoside hydrolase gene transcription and sexual development.

Trichoderma reesei RUT-C30--thirty years of strain improvement

The hypersecreting mutant Trichoderma reesei RUT-C30 (ATCC 56765) is one of the most widely used strains of filamentous fungi for the production of cellulolytic enzymes and recombinant proteins, and for academic research. The strain was obtained after three rounds of random mutagenesis of the wild-type QM6a in a screening program focused on high cellulase production and catabolite derepression. Whereas RUT-C30 achieves outstanding levels of protein secretion and high cellulolytic activity in comparison to the wild-type QM6a, recombinant protein production has been less successful. Here, we bring together and discuss the results from biochemical-, microscopic-, genomic-, transcriptomic-, glycomic- and proteomic-based research on the RUT-C30 strain published over the last 30 years.

The effects of disruption of phosphoglucose isomerase gene on carbon utilisation and cellulase production in Trichoderma reesei Rut-C30

Background

Cellulase and hemicellulase genes in the fungus Trichoderma reesei are repressed by glucose and induced by lactose. Regulation of the cellulase genes is mediated by the repressor CRE1 and the activator XYR1. T. reesei strain Rut-C30 is a hypercellulolytic mutant, obtained from the natural strain QM6a, that has a truncated version of the catabolite repressor gene, cre1. It has been previously shown that bacterial mutants lacking phosphoglucose isomerase (PGI) produce more nucleotide precursors and amino acids. PGI catalyzes the second step of glycolysis, the formation of fructose-6-P from glucose-6-P.

Results

We deleted the gene pgi1, encoding PGI, in the T. reesei strain Rut-C30 and we introduced the cre1 gene in a Δpgi1 mutant. Both Δpgi1 and cre1⁺Δpgi1 mutants showed a pellet-like and growth as well as morphological alterations compared with Rut-C30. None of the mutants grew in media with fructose, galactose, xylose, glycerol or lactose but they grew in media with glucose, with fructose and glucose, with galactose and fructose or with lactose and fructose. No growth was observed in media with xylose and glucose. On glucose, Δpgi1 and cre1⁺Δpgi1 mutants showed higher cellulase activity than Rut-C30 and QM6a, respectively. But in media with lactose, none of the mutants improved the production of the reference strains. The increase in the activity did not correlate with the expression of mRNA of the xylanase regulator gene, xyr1. Δpgi1 mutants were also affected in the extracellular β-galactosidase activity. Levels of mRNA of the glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase did not increase in Δpgi1 during growth on glucose.

Conclusions

The ability to grow in media with glucose as the sole carbon source indicated that Trichoderma Δpgi1 mutants were able to use the pentose phosphate pathway. But, they did not increase the expression of gpdh. Morphological characteristics were the result of the pgi1 deletion. Deletion of pgi1 in Rut-C30 increased cellulase production, but only under repressing conditions. This increase resulted partly from the deletion itself and partly from a genetic interaction with the cre1-1 mutation. The lower cellulase activity of these mutants in media with lactose could be attributed to a reduced ability to hydrolyse this sugar but not to an effect on the expression of xyr1.

Detecting novel genes with sparse arrays

Species-specific genes play an important role in defining the phenotype of an organism. However, current gene prediction methods can only efficiently find genes that share features such as sequence similarity or general sequence characteristics with previously known genes. Novel sequencing methods and tiling arrays can be used to find genes without prior information and they have demonstrated that novel genes can still be found from extensively studied model organisms. Unfortunately, these methods are expensive and thus are not easily applicable, e.g., to finding genes that are expressed only in very specific conditions. We demonstrate a method for finding novel genes with sparse arrays, applying it on the 33.9 Mb genome of the filamentous fungus Trichoderma reesei. Our computational method does not require normalisations between arrays and it takes into account the multiple-testing problem typical for analysis of microarray data. In contrast to tiling arrays, that use overlapping probes, only one 25 mer microarray oligonucleotide probe was used for every 100b. Thus, only relatively little space on a microarray slide was required to cover the intergenic regions of a genome. The analysis was done as a by-product of a conventional microarray experiment with no additional costs. We found at least 23 good candidates for novel transcripts that could code for proteins and all of which were expressed at high levels. Candidate genes were found to neighbour ire1 and cre1 and many other regulatory genes. Our simple, low-cost method can easily be applied to finding novel species-specific genes without prior knowledge of their sequence properties.