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Zhang Z, Xing J, Li X, Lu X, Liu G, Qu Y, Zhao J. Review of research progress on the production of cellulase from filamentous fungi. Int J Biol Macromol 2024; 277:134539. [PMID: 39122065 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.134539] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2024] [Revised: 07/29/2024] [Accepted: 08/04/2024] [Indexed: 08/12/2024]
Abstract
Cellulases have been widely used in many fields such as animal feed, textile, food, lignocellulose bioconversion, etc. Efficient and low-cost production of cellulases is very important for its industrial application, especially in bioconversion of lignocellulosic biomass. Filamentous fungi are currently widely used in industrial cellulase production due to their ability to secrete large amounts of active free cellulases extracellularly. This review comprehensively summarized the research progress on cellulases from filamentous fungi in recent years, including filamentous fungi used for cellulase production and its modification strategies, enzyme compositions, characterization methods and application of fungal cellulase systems, and the production of fungal cellulase includes production processes, factors affecting cellulase production such as inducers, fermentation medium, process parameters and their control strategies. Also, the future perspectives and research topics in fungal cellulase production are presented in the end of the review. The review helps to deepen the understanding of the current status of fungal cellulases, thereby promoting the production technology progress and industrial application of filamentous fungal cellulase.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zheng Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao 266237, China
| | - Jing Xing
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao 266237, China
| | - Xuezhi Li
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao 266237, China
| | - Xianqin Lu
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao 266237, China
| | - Guodong Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao 266237, China
| | - Yinbo Qu
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao 266237, China.
| | - Jian Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao 266237, China.
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Sveholm E, Mattila H, Aro N, Valkonen M, Paasela T, Pakula TM. Transcriptomic and metabolic changes in Trichoderma reesei caused by mutation in xylanase regulator 1 (xyr1). BIOTECHNOLOGY FOR BIOFUELS AND BIOPRODUCTS 2024; 17:106. [PMID: 39030601 PMCID: PMC11265206 DOI: 10.1186/s13068-024-02556-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2024] [Accepted: 07/10/2024] [Indexed: 07/21/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Trichoderma reesei is known for its ability to produce large amounts of extracellular proteins and is one of the most important industrially used filamentous fungus. Xylanase regulator 1 (XYR1) is the master regulator responsible for the activation of cellulase and hemicellulase gene expression under inducing conditions. It has been reported that strains with point mutations in certain areas of xyr1 bypass the need for inducing carbon source, allowing high (hemi)cellulase production even in the presence of glucose. These mutations also change the profile of produced proteins, shifting it more towards xylanase production, and increase the overall protein production in inducing conditions. However, how these mutations alter the metabolism and other cellular processes to cause these changes remains unclear. RESULTS In this study, we aimed to explore changes caused by a point mutation in xyr1 on transcriptomic and metabolic level to better understand the reasons behind the increased protein production in both repressing glucose and inducing lactose conditions. As expected, the expression of many carbohydrate-active enzyme (CAZy) genes was increased in the xyr1 mutant in both conditions. However, their induction was higher under inducing conditions. The xyr1 mutant strain built more biomass and produced more extracellular proteins during growth on lactose compared to the wild type xyr1 strain. Genes involved in oxidoreductive D-galactose catabolism pathway were upregulated in the xyr1 mutant strain, potentially contributing to the more efficient utilization of lactose. In addition to CAZy genes, clustering and enrichment analysis showed over-representation of mitochondria-related Gene Ontology terms in clusters where gene expression was higher in the xyr1 mutant, indicating that mitochondria play a role in the altered metabolic state associated with the xyr1 mutation. Metabolomics revealed that free tyrosine was more abundant in the xyr1 mutant strain in all measured timepoints, whereas multiple fatty acids were less abundant in the mutant strain on glucose. CONCLUSIONS The results contribute to more in-depth knowledge on T. reesei physiology growing under inducing and repressing carbon sources and gives new insights on the function of the master regulator XYR1. The vast data generated serve as a source for new targets for improved protein production.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emmi Sveholm
- VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd, P.O. Box 1000, 02044, Espoo, Finland
| | - Hans Mattila
- VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd, P.O. Box 1000, 02044, Espoo, Finland
| | - Nina Aro
- VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd, P.O. Box 1000, 02044, Espoo, Finland
| | - Mari Valkonen
- VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd, P.O. Box 1000, 02044, Espoo, Finland
| | - Tanja Paasela
- VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd, P.O. Box 1000, 02044, Espoo, Finland.
| | - Tiina M Pakula
- VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd, P.O. Box 1000, 02044, Espoo, Finland
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Castañeda-Casasola CC, Nieto-Jacobo MF, Soares A, Padilla-Padilla EA, Anducho-Reyes MA, Brown C, Soth S, Esquivel-Naranjo EU, Hampton J, Mendoza-Mendoza A. Unveiling a Microexon Switch: Novel Regulation of the Activities of Sugar Assimilation and Plant-Cell-Wall-Degrading Xylanases and Cellulases by Xlr2 in Trichoderma virens. Int J Mol Sci 2024; 25:5172. [PMID: 38791210 PMCID: PMC11121469 DOI: 10.3390/ijms25105172] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2024] [Revised: 05/02/2024] [Accepted: 05/06/2024] [Indexed: 05/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Functional microexons have not previously been described in filamentous fungi. Here, we describe a novel mechanism of transcriptional regulation in Trichoderma requiring the inclusion of a microexon from the Xlr2 gene. In low-glucose environments, a long mRNA including the microexon encodes a protein with a GAL4-like DNA-binding domain (Xlr2-α), whereas in high-glucose environments, a short mRNA that is produced encodes a protein lacking this DNA-binding domain (Xlr2-β). Interestingly, the protein isoforms differ in their impact on cellulase and xylanase activity. Deleting the Xlr2 gene reduced both xylanase and cellulase activity and growth on different carbon sources, such as carboxymethylcellulose, xylan, glucose, and arabinose. The overexpression of either Xlr2-α or Xlr2-β in T. virens showed that the short isoform (Xlr2-β) caused higher xylanase activity than the wild types or the long isoform (Xlr2-α). Conversely, cellulase activity did not increase when overexpressing Xlr2-β but was increased with the overexpression of Xlr2-α. This is the first report of a novel transcriptional regulation mechanism of plant-cell-wall-degrading enzyme activity in T. virens. This involves the differential expression of a microexon from a gene encoding a transcriptional regulator.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cynthia Coccet Castañeda-Casasola
- Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Lincoln University, Lincoln 7647, New Zealand; (C.C.C.-C.); (A.S.); (E.A.P.-P.); (S.S.); (E.U.E.-N.); (J.H.)
- Laboratorio de AgroBiotecnología, Universidad Politécnica de Pachuca, Carretera Pachuca-Cd. Sahagún, km 20, ExHacienda de Santa Bárbara, Zempoala 43830, Mexico;
- Servicio Nacional de Sanidad, Inocuidad y Calidad Agroalimentaria, Centro Nacional de Referencia Fitosanitaria, Tecamac 55740, Mexico
| | | | - Amanda Soares
- Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Lincoln University, Lincoln 7647, New Zealand; (C.C.C.-C.); (A.S.); (E.A.P.-P.); (S.S.); (E.U.E.-N.); (J.H.)
| | - Emir Alejandro Padilla-Padilla
- Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Lincoln University, Lincoln 7647, New Zealand; (C.C.C.-C.); (A.S.); (E.A.P.-P.); (S.S.); (E.U.E.-N.); (J.H.)
- Department of Biochemistry, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand;
- Centro de Ciencias Genómicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Cuernavaca 04510, Mexico
| | - Miguel Angel Anducho-Reyes
- Laboratorio de AgroBiotecnología, Universidad Politécnica de Pachuca, Carretera Pachuca-Cd. Sahagún, km 20, ExHacienda de Santa Bárbara, Zempoala 43830, Mexico;
| | - Chris Brown
- Department of Biochemistry, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Otago, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand;
| | - Sereyboth Soth
- Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Lincoln University, Lincoln 7647, New Zealand; (C.C.C.-C.); (A.S.); (E.A.P.-P.); (S.S.); (E.U.E.-N.); (J.H.)
| | - Edgardo Ulises Esquivel-Naranjo
- Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Lincoln University, Lincoln 7647, New Zealand; (C.C.C.-C.); (A.S.); (E.A.P.-P.); (S.S.); (E.U.E.-N.); (J.H.)
- Unit for Basic and Applied Microbiology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Autonomous University of Queretaro, Queretaro 76230, Mexico
| | - John Hampton
- Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Lincoln University, Lincoln 7647, New Zealand; (C.C.C.-C.); (A.S.); (E.A.P.-P.); (S.S.); (E.U.E.-N.); (J.H.)
| | - Artemio Mendoza-Mendoza
- Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Lincoln University, Lincoln 7647, New Zealand; (C.C.C.-C.); (A.S.); (E.A.P.-P.); (S.S.); (E.U.E.-N.); (J.H.)
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Zhu Z, Zou G, Chai S, Xiao M, Wang Y, Wang P, Zhou Z. The protein methyltransferase TrSAM inhibits cellulase gene expression by interacting with the negative regulator ACE1 in Trichoderma reesei. Commun Biol 2024; 7:375. [PMID: 38548869 PMCID: PMC10978942 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-024-06072-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2023] [Accepted: 03/19/2024] [Indexed: 04/01/2024] Open
Abstract
Protein methylation is a commonly posttranslational modification of transcriptional regulators to fine-tune protein function, however, whether this regulation strategy participates in the regulation of lignocellulase synthesis and secretion in Trichoderma reesei remains unexplored. Here, a putative protein methyltransferase (TrSAM) is screened from a T. reesei mutant with the ability to express heterologous β-glucosidase efficiently even under glucose repression. The deletion of its encoding gene trsam causes a significant increase of cellulase activities in all tested T. reesei strains, including transformants of expressing heterologous genes using cbh1 promotor. Further investigation confirms that TrSAM interacts with the cellulase negative regulator ACE1 via its amino acid residue Arg383, which causes a decrease in the ACE1-DNA binding affinity. The enzyme activity of a T. reesei strain harboring ACE1R383Q increases by 85.8%, whereas that of the strains with trsam or ace1 deletion increases by more than 100%. By contrast, the strain with ACE1R383K shows no difference to the parent strain. Taken together, our results demonstrate that TrSAM plays an important role in regulating the expression of cellulase and heterologous proteins initiated by cbh1 promotor through interacting with ACE1R383. Elimination and mutation of TrSAM and its downstream ACE1 alleviate the carbon catabolite repression (CCR) in expressing cellulase and heterologous protein in varying degrees. This provides a new solution for the exquisite modification of T. reesei chassis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhihua Zhu
- CAS-Key Laboratory of Synthetic Biology, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 300 FengLin Rd, Shanghai, 200032, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Gen Zou
- CAS-Key Laboratory of Synthetic Biology, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 300 FengLin Rd, Shanghai, 200032, China
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Agricultural Genetics and Breeding, Institute of Edible Fungi, Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Science, 1000 Jinqi Rd, Shanghai, 201403, China
| | - Shunxing Chai
- CAS-Key Laboratory of Synthetic Biology, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 300 FengLin Rd, Shanghai, 200032, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Meili Xiao
- CAS-Key Laboratory of Synthetic Biology, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 300 FengLin Rd, Shanghai, 200032, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Yinmei Wang
- CAS-Key Laboratory of Synthetic Biology, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 300 FengLin Rd, Shanghai, 200032, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Pingping Wang
- CAS-Key Laboratory of Synthetic Biology, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 300 FengLin Rd, Shanghai, 200032, China
| | - Zhihua Zhou
- CAS-Key Laboratory of Synthetic Biology, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 300 FengLin Rd, Shanghai, 200032, China.
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Zhang J, Li K, Sun Y, Yao C, Liu W, Liu H, Zhong Y. An efficient CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing system based on a multiple sgRNA processing platform in Trichoderma reesei for strain improvement and enzyme production. BIOTECHNOLOGY FOR BIOFUELS AND BIOPRODUCTS 2024; 17:22. [PMID: 38342915 DOI: 10.1186/s13068-024-02468-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2023] [Accepted: 01/29/2024] [Indexed: 02/13/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The CRISPR/Cas9 technology is being employed as a convenient tool for genetic engineering of the industrially important filamentous fungus Trichoderma reesei. However, multiplex gene editing is still constrained by the sgRNA processing capability, hindering strain improvement of T. reesei for the production of lignocellulose-degrading enzymes and recombinant proteins. RESULTS Here, a CRISPR/Cas9 system based on a multiple sgRNA processing platform was established for genome editing in T. reesei. The platform contains the arrayed tRNA-sgRNA architecture directed by a 5S rRNA promoter to generate multiple sgRNAs from a single transcript by the endogenous tRNA processing system. With this system, two sgRNAs targeting cre1 (encoding the carbon catabolite repressor 1) were designed and the precise deletion of cre1 was obtained, demonstrating the efficiency of sgRNAs processing in the tRNA-sgRNA architecture. Moreover, overexpression of xyr1-A824V (encoding a key activator for cellulase/xylanase expression) at the ace1 (encoding a repressor for cellulase/xylanase expression) locus was achieved by designing two sgRNAs targeting ace1 in the system, resulting in the significantly enhanced production of cellulase (up to 1- and 18-fold on the Avicel and glucose, respectively) and xylanase (up to 11- and 41-fold on the Avicel and glucose, respectively). Furthermore, heterologous expression of the glucose oxidase gene from Aspergillus niger ATCC 9029 at the cbh1 locus with the simultaneous deletion of cbh1 and cbh2 (two cellobiohydrolase coding genes) by designing four sgRNAs targeting cbh1 and cbh2 in the system was acquired, and the glucose oxidase produced by T. reesei reached 43.77 U/mL. Besides, it was found the ER-associated protein degradation (ERAD) level was decreased in the glucose oxidase-producing strain, which was likely due to the reduction of secretion pressure by deletion of the major endogenous cellulase-encoding genes. CONCLUSIONS The tRNA-gRNA array-based CRISPR-Cas9 editing system was successfully developed in T. reesei. This system would accelerate engineering of T. reesei for high-level production of enzymes including lignocellulose-degrading enzymes and other recombinant enzymes. Furthermore, it would expand the CRISPR toolbox for fungal genome editing and synthetic biology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiaxin Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Institute of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237, People's Republic of China
| | - Kehang Li
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Institute of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237, People's Republic of China
| | - Yu Sun
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Institute of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237, People's Republic of China
| | - Cheng Yao
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Institute of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237, People's Republic of China
| | - Weifeng Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Institute of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237, People's Republic of China
| | - Hong Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Institute of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237, People's Republic of China.
| | - Yaohua Zhong
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Institute of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237, People's Republic of China.
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Zhao Q, Yang Z, Xiao Z, Zhang Z, Xing J, Liang H, Gao L, Zhao J, Qu Y, Liu G. Structure-guided engineering of transcriptional activator XYR1 for inducer-free production of lignocellulolytic enzymes in Trichoderma reesei. Synth Syst Biotechnol 2023; 8:732-740. [PMID: 38187093 PMCID: PMC10770280 DOI: 10.1016/j.synbio.2023.11.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2023] [Revised: 10/29/2023] [Accepted: 11/15/2023] [Indexed: 01/09/2024] Open
Abstract
The filamentous fungus Trichoderma reesei is widely used for the production of lignocellulolytic enzymes in industry. XYR1 is the major transcriptional activator of cellulases and hemicellulases in T. reesei. However, rational engineering of XYR1 for improved lignocellulolytic enzymes production has been limited by the lack of structure information. Here, alanine 873 was identified as a new potential target for the engineering of XYR1 based on its structure predicted by AlphaFold2. The mutation of this residue to tyrosine enabled significantly enhanced production of xylanolytic enzymes in the medium with cellulose as the carbon source. Moreover, xylanase and cellulase production increased by 56.7- and 3.3-fold, respectively, when glucose was used as the sole carbon source. Under both conditions, the improvements of lignocellulolytic enzyme production were higher than those in the previously reported V821F mutant. With the enriched hemicellulases and cellulases, the crude enzymes secreted by the A873Y mutant strain produced 51 % more glucose and 52 % more xylose from pretreated corn stover than those of the parent strain. The results provide a novel strategy for engineering the lignocellulolytic enzyme-producing capacity of T. reesei, and would be helpful for understanding the molecular mechanisms of XYR1 regulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qinqin Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237, China
| | - Zezheng Yang
- Taishan College, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237, China
| | - Ziyang Xiao
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237, China
| | - Zheng Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237, China
| | - Jing Xing
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237, China
| | - Huiqi Liang
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237, China
| | - Liwei Gao
- Tobacco Research Institute of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Qingdao, 266101, China
| | - Jian Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237, China
| | - Yinbo Qu
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237, China
| | - Guodong Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237, China
- Taishan College, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237, China
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7
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Zhao S, Zhang T, Hasunuma T, Kondo A, Zhao XQ, Feng JX. Every road leads to Rome: diverse biosynthetic regulation of plant cell wall-degrading enzymes in filamentous fungi Penicillium oxalicum and Trichoderma reesei. Crit Rev Biotechnol 2023:1-21. [PMID: 38035670 DOI: 10.1080/07388551.2023.2280810] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2022] [Accepted: 10/16/2023] [Indexed: 12/02/2023]
Abstract
Cellulases and xylanases are plant cell wall-degrading enzymes (CWDEs) that are critical to sustainable bioproduction based on renewable lignocellulosic biomass to reduce carbon dioxide emission. Currently, these enzymes are mainly produced from filamentous fungi, especially Trichoderma reesei and Penicillium oxalicum. However, an in-depth comparison of these two producers has not been performed. Although both P. oxalicum and T. reesei harbor CWDE systems, they exhibit distinct features regulating the production of these enzymes, mainly through different transcriptional regulatory networks. This review presents the strikingly different modes of genome-wide regulation of cellulase and xylanase biosynthesis in P. oxalicum and T. reesei, including sugar transporters, signal transduction cascades, transcription factors, chromatin remodeling, and three-dimensional organization of chromosomes. In addition, different molecular breeding approaches employed, based on the understanding of the regulatory networks, are summarized. This review highlights the existence of very different regulatory modes leading to the efficient regulation of CWDE production in filamentous fungi, akin to the adage that "every road leads to Rome." An understanding of this divergence may help further improvements in fungal enzyme production through the metabolic engineering and synthetic biology of certain fungal species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuai Zhao
- State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-bioresources, Guangxi Research Center for Microbial and Enzyme Engineering Technology, College of Life Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning, China
| | - Ting Zhang
- State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-bioresources, Guangxi Research Center for Microbial and Enzyme Engineering Technology, College of Life Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning, China
| | - Tomohisa Hasunuma
- Graduate School of Science, Technology and Innovation, Engineering Biology Research Center, Kobe University, Kobe, Japan
| | - Akihiko Kondo
- Graduate School of Science, Technology and Innovation, Engineering Biology Research Center, Kobe University, Kobe, Japan
| | - Xin-Qing Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Jia-Xun Feng
- State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro-bioresources, Guangxi Research Center for Microbial and Enzyme Engineering Technology, College of Life Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning, China
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8
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Kerkaert JD, Huberman LB. Regulation of nutrient utilization in filamentous fungi. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2023; 107:5873-5898. [PMID: 37540250 PMCID: PMC10983054 DOI: 10.1007/s00253-023-12680-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2023] [Revised: 06/29/2023] [Accepted: 07/04/2023] [Indexed: 08/05/2023]
Abstract
Organisms must accurately sense and respond to nutrients to survive. In filamentous fungi, accurate nutrient sensing is important in the establishment of fungal colonies and in continued, rapid growth for the exploitation of environmental resources. To ensure efficient nutrient utilization, fungi have evolved a combination of activating and repressing genetic networks to tightly regulate metabolic pathways and distinguish between preferred nutrients, which require minimal energy and resources to utilize, and nonpreferred nutrients, which have more energy-intensive catabolic requirements. Genes necessary for the utilization of nonpreferred carbon sources are activated by transcription factors that respond to the presence of the specific nutrient and repressed by transcription factors that respond to the presence of preferred carbohydrates. Utilization of nonpreferred nitrogen sources generally requires two transcription factors. Pathway-specific transcription factors respond to the presence of a specific nonpreferred nitrogen source, while another transcription factor activates genes in the absence of preferred nitrogen sources. In this review, we discuss the roles of transcription factors and upstream regulatory genes that respond to preferred and nonpreferred carbon and nitrogen sources and their roles in regulating carbon and nitrogen catabolism. KEY POINTS: • Interplay of activating and repressing transcriptional networks regulates catabolism. • Nutrient-specific activating transcriptional pathways provide metabolic specificity. • Repressing regulatory systems differentiate nutrients in mixed nutrient environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joshua D Kerkaert
- Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section, School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - Lori B Huberman
- Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology Section, School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.
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9
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Lv D, Zhang W, Meng X, Liu W. Single Mutation in Transcriptional Activator Xyr1 Enhances Cellulase and Xylanase Production in Trichoderma reesei on Glucose. JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD CHEMISTRY 2023; 71:11993-12003. [PMID: 37523749 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.3c03466] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/02/2023]
Abstract
To achieve cost-effective production of lignocellulolytic enzymes for biorefinery processes, engineering transcription factors represents a powerful strategy to boost cellulase and xylanase in Trichoderma reesei. In this study, a novel mutation (R434L) in xylanase regulator 1 (Xyr1) was identified based on the yeast one-hybrid screening system. The point mutation was located in the middle homology region of Xyr1 with unclear functions, indicating a significant role for this domain in tuning Xyr1 transactivation. When constitutively expressed in T. reesei Δxyr1 (OEXR434L), Xyr1R434L led to highly improved production of both cellulases and xylanases on glucose compared with a strain similarly expressing Xyr1 (OEX). The respective 0.8- and 0.7-fold increases in extracellular pNPCase and xylanolytic activity were further verified to result from the greatly elevated transcription of major cellulase and xylanase genes in OEXR434L. Moreover, the saccharification efficiency of corn stover with OEXR434L enzyme cocktails was enhanced by 21% compared with that of OEX.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dongmei Lv
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, No. 72 Binhai Road, Qingdao 266237, P. R. China
| | - Weixin Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, No. 72 Binhai Road, Qingdao 266237, P. R. China
| | - Xiangfeng Meng
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, No. 72 Binhai Road, Qingdao 266237, P. R. China
| | - Weifeng Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, No. 72 Binhai Road, Qingdao 266237, P. R. China
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10
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Salazar-Cerezo S, de Vries RP, Garrigues S. Strategies for the Development of Industrial Fungal Producing Strains. J Fungi (Basel) 2023; 9:834. [PMID: 37623605 PMCID: PMC10455633 DOI: 10.3390/jof9080834] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2023] [Revised: 07/31/2023] [Accepted: 08/04/2023] [Indexed: 08/26/2023] Open
Abstract
The use of microorganisms in industry has enabled the (over)production of various compounds (e.g., primary and secondary metabolites, proteins and enzymes) that are relevant for the production of antibiotics, food, beverages, cosmetics, chemicals and biofuels, among others. Industrial strains are commonly obtained by conventional (non-GMO) strain improvement strategies and random screening and selection. However, recombinant DNA technology has made it possible to improve microbial strains by adding, deleting or modifying specific genes. Techniques such as genetic engineering and genome editing are contributing to the development of industrial production strains. Nevertheless, there is still significant room for further strain improvement. In this review, we will focus on classical and recent methods, tools and technologies used for the development of fungal production strains with the potential to be applied at an industrial scale. Additionally, the use of functional genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics together with the implementation of genetic manipulation techniques and expression tools will be discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sonia Salazar-Cerezo
- Fungal Physiology, Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute & Fungal Molecular Physiology, Utrecht University, Uppsalalaan 8, 3584 CT Utrecht, The Netherlands (R.P.d.V.)
| | - Ronald P. de Vries
- Fungal Physiology, Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute & Fungal Molecular Physiology, Utrecht University, Uppsalalaan 8, 3584 CT Utrecht, The Netherlands (R.P.d.V.)
| | - Sandra Garrigues
- Food Biotechnology Department, Instituto de Agroquímica y Tecnología de Alimentos (IATA), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Catedrático Agustín Escardino Benlloch 7, 46980 Paterna, VLC, Spain
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Arai T, Wada M, Nishiguchi H, Takimura Y, Ishii J. Inducer-free recombinant protein production in Trichoderma reesei: secretory production of endogenous enzymes and heterologous nanobodies using glucose as the sole carbon source. Microb Cell Fact 2023; 22:103. [PMID: 37208691 DOI: 10.1186/s12934-023-02109-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2023] [Accepted: 04/28/2023] [Indexed: 05/21/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The filamentous fungus Trichoderma reesei has been used as a host organism for the production of lignocellulosic biomass-degrading enzymes. Although this microorganism has high potential for protein production, it has not yet been widely used for heterologous recombinant protein production. Transcriptional induction of the cellulase genes is essential for high-level protein production in T. reesei; however, glucose represses this transcriptional induction. Therefore, cellulose is commonly used as a carbon source for providing its degraded sugars such as cellobiose, which act as inducers to activate the strong promoters of the major cellulase (cellobiohydrolase 1 and 2 (cbh1 and cbh2) genes. However, replacement of cbh1 and/or cbh2 with a gene encoding the protein of interest (POI) for high productivity and occupancy of recombinant proteins remarkably impairs the ability to release soluble inducers from cellulose, consequently reducing the production of POI. To overcome this challenge, we first used an inducer-free biomass-degrading enzyme expression system, previously developed to produce cellulases and hemicellulases using glucose as the sole carbon source, for recombinant protein production using T. reesei. RESULTS We chose endogenous secretory enzymes and heterologous camelid small antibodies (nanobody) as model proteins. By using the inducer-free strain as a parent, replacement of cbh1 with genes encoding two intrinsic enzymes (aspartic protease and glucoamylase) and three different nanobodies (1ZVH, caplacizumab, and ozoralizumab) resulted in their high secretory productions using glucose medium without inducers such as cellulose. Based on signal sequences (carrier polypeptides) and protease inhibitors, additional replacement of cbh2 with the nanobody gene increased the percentage of POI to about 20% of total secreted proteins in T. reesei. This allowed the production of caplacizumab, a bivalent nanobody, to be increased to 9.49-fold (508 mg/L) compared to the initial inducer-free strain. CONCLUSIONS In general, whereas the replacement of major cellulase genes leads to extreme decrease in the degradation capacity of cellulose, our inducer-free system enabled it and achieved high secretory production of POI with increased occupancy in glucose medium. This system would be a novel platform for heterologous recombinant protein production in T. reesei.
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Affiliation(s)
- Toshiharu Arai
- Biological Science Research, Kao Corporation, 1334 Minato, Wakayama, 640‑8580, Japan.
- Graduate School of Science, Technology and Innovation, Kobe University, 1-1 Rokkodai, Nada, Kobe, 657-8501, Japan.
| | - Mayumi Wada
- Biological Science Research, Kao Corporation, 1334 Minato, Wakayama, 640‑8580, Japan
| | - Hiroki Nishiguchi
- Biological Science Research, Kao Corporation, 1334 Minato, Wakayama, 640‑8580, Japan
| | - Yasushi Takimura
- Biological Science Research, Kao Corporation, 1334 Minato, Wakayama, 640‑8580, Japan
| | - Jun Ishii
- Graduate School of Science, Technology and Innovation, Kobe University, 1-1 Rokkodai, Nada, Kobe, 657-8501, Japan.
- Engineering Biology Research Center, Kobe University, 1-1 Rokkodai, Nada, Kobe, 657-8501, Japan.
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Lv D, Zhang W, Meng X, Liu W. A novel fusion transcription factor drives high cellulase and xylanase production on glucose in Trichoderma reesei. BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY 2023; 370:128520. [PMID: 36565817 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2022.128520] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2022] [Revised: 12/17/2022] [Accepted: 12/19/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
To reduce the high cost of (hemi)cellulase production in lignocellulose biorefining, it is important to develop strategies to enhance enzyme productivity from economic and also readily manipulatable carbon sources. In this study, an artificial transcription factor XT was designed by fusing the DNA binding domain of Xyr1 to the transactivation domain of Tmac1. When overexpressed in Trichoderma reesei QM9414 Δxyr1, the XT recombinant strain (OEXT) greatly improved (hemi)cellulase production on repressing glucose compared with QM9414 on Avicel with 1.7- and 8.2-fold increases in pNPCase and xylanase activity, respectively. Both activities were even higher (0.9- and 33.8-fold higher, respectively) than the recombinant strain similarly overexpressing Xyr1. The dramatically enhanced xylanase activities in OEXT resulted from the elevated expression of various hemicellulases in the secretome. Moreover, the enzyme cocktail from OEXT improved the saccharification efficiency toward corn stover by 60% compared with enzymes from QM9414 with equal volume loading.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dongmei Lv
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, No.72 Binhai Road, Qingdao 266237, PR China
| | - Weixin Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, No.72 Binhai Road, Qingdao 266237, PR China
| | - Xiangfeng Meng
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, No.72 Binhai Road, Qingdao 266237, PR China
| | - Weifeng Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, No.72 Binhai Road, Qingdao 266237, PR China.
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Shen L, Yan A, Wang Y, Wang Y, Liu H, Zhong Y. Tailoring the expression of Xyr1 leads to efficient production of lignocellulolytic enzymes in Trichoderma reesei for improved saccharification of corncob residues. BIOTECHNOLOGY FOR BIOFUELS AND BIOPRODUCTS 2022; 15:142. [PMID: 36528622 PMCID: PMC9759857 DOI: 10.1186/s13068-022-02240-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2022] [Accepted: 12/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The filamentous fungus Trichoderma reesei is extensively used for the industrial-scale cellulase production. It has been well known that the transcription factor Xyr1 plays an important role in the regulatory network controlling cellulase gene expression. However, the role of Xyr1 in the regulation of cellulase expression has not been comprehensively elucidated, which hinders further improvement of lignocellulolytic enzyme production. RESULTS Here, the expression dosage of xyr1 was tailored in T. reesei by differentially overexpressing the xyr1 gene under the control of three strong promoters (Pegl2, Pcbh1, and Pcdna1), and the transcript abundance of xyr1 was elevated 5.8-, 12.6-, and 47.2-fold, respectively. We found expression of cellulase genes was significantly increased in the Pegl2-driven xyr1 overexpression strain QE2X, whereas relatively low in the Pcbh1- and Pcdna1-driven overexpression strains. We also found that the Pegl2-driven overexpression of xyr1 caused a more significant opening of chromatin in the core promoter region of the prominent cellulase genes. Furthermore, the cellulase activity showed a 3.2-fold increase in the strain QE2X, while insignificant improvement in the Pcbh1- and Pcdna1-driven strains. Finally, the saccharification efficiency toward acid-pretreated corncob residues containing high-content lignin by the crude enzyme from QE2X was increased by 57.2% compared to that from the parental strain. Moreover, LC-MS/MS and RT-qPCR analysis revealed that expression of accessory proteins (Cip1, Cip2, Swo1, and LPMOs) was greatly improved in QE2X, which partly explained the promoting effect of the Pegl2-driven overexpression on enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulose biomass. CONCLUSIONS Our results underpin that the precise tailoring expression of xyr1 is essential for highly efficient cellulase synthesis, which provide new insights into the role of Xyr1 in regulating cellulase expression in T. reesei. Moreover, these results also provides a prospective strategy for strain improvement to enhance the lignocellulolytic enzyme production for use in biorefinery applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Linjing Shen
- grid.27255.370000 0004 1761 1174State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Institute of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237 People’s Republic of China
| | - Aiqin Yan
- grid.27255.370000 0004 1761 1174State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Institute of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237 People’s Republic of China
| | - Yifan Wang
- grid.27255.370000 0004 1761 1174State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Institute of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237 People’s Republic of China
| | - Yubo Wang
- grid.27255.370000 0004 1761 1174State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Institute of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237 People’s Republic of China
| | - Hong Liu
- grid.27255.370000 0004 1761 1174State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Institute of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237 People’s Republic of China
| | - Yaohua Zhong
- grid.27255.370000 0004 1761 1174State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Institute of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237 People’s Republic of China
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In Vitro Characterization of a Nuclear Receptor-like Domain of the Xylanase Regulator 1 from Trichoderma reesei. J Fungi (Basel) 2022; 8:jof8121254. [PMID: 36547587 PMCID: PMC9784857 DOI: 10.3390/jof8121254] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2022] [Revised: 11/22/2022] [Accepted: 11/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Engineering transcription factors is an interesting research target gaining increasing attention, such as in the case of industrially used organisms. With respect to sustainability, biomass-degrading saprophytic fungi, such as Trichoderma reesei, are promising industrial work horses because they exhibit a high secretory capacity of native and heterologously expressed enzymes and compounds. A single-point mutation in the main transactivator of xylanase and cellulase expressions in T. reesei Xyr1 led to a strongly deregulated and enhanced xylanase expression. Circular dichroism spectroscopy revealed a change in secondary structure caused by this mutation. According to electrophoretic mobility shift assays and determination of the equilibrium-binding constants, the DNA-binding affinity of the mutated Xyr1 was considerably reduced compared to the wild-type Xyr1. Both techniques were also used to investigate the allosteric response to carbohydrates (D-glucose-6-phosphate, D-xylose, and sophorose) signalling the repression or induction of Xyr1 target genes. The mutated Xyr1 no longer exhibited a conformational change in response to these carbohydrates, indicating that the observed deregulation is not a simple matter of a change in DNA-binding of the transactivator. Altogether, we postulate that the part of Xyr1 where the mutation is located functions as a nuclear receptor-like domain that mediates carbohydrate signals and modulates the Xyr1 transactivating activity.
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Arai T, Ichinose S, Shibata N, Kakeshita H, Kodama H, Igarashi K, Takimura Y. Inducer-free cellulase production system based on the constitutive expression of mutated XYR1 and ACE3 in the industrial fungus Trichoderma reesei. Sci Rep 2022; 12:19445. [PMID: 36376415 PMCID: PMC9663580 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-23815-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2022] [Accepted: 11/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Trichoderma reesei is a widely used host for producing cellulase and hemicellulase cocktails for lignocellulosic biomass degradation. Here, we report a genetic modification strategy for industrial T. reesei that enables enzyme production using simple glucose without inducers, such as cellulose, lactose and sophorose. Previously, the mutated XYR1V821F or XYR1A824V was known to induce xylanase and cellulase using only glucose as a carbon source, but its enzyme composition was biased toward xylanases, and its performance was insufficient to degrade lignocellulose efficiently. Therefore, we examined combinations of mutated XYR1V821F and constitutively expressed CRT1, BGLR, VIB1, ACE2, or ACE3, known as cellulase regulators and essential factors for cellulase expression to the T. reesei E1AB1 strain that has been highly mutagenized for improving enzyme productivity and expressing a ß-glucosidase for high enzyme performance. The results showed that expression of ACE3 to the mutated XYR1V821F expressing strain promoted cellulase expression. Furthermore, co-expression of these two transcription factors also resulted in increased productivity, with enzyme productivity 1.5-fold higher than with the conventional single expression of mutated XYR1V821F. Additionally, that productivity was 5.5-fold higher compared to productivity with an enhanced single expression of ACE3. Moreover, although the DNA-binding domain of ACE3 had been considered essential for inducer-free cellulase production, we found that ACE3 with a partially truncated DNA-binding domain was more effective in cellulase production when co-expressed with a mutated XYR1V821F. This study demonstrates that co-expression of the two transcription factors, the mutated XYR1V821F or XYR1A824V and ACE3, resulted in optimized enzyme composition and increased productivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Toshiharu Arai
- Biological Science Research, Kao Corporation, 1334 Minato, Wakayama, Wakayama, 640‑8580, Japan
| | - Sakurako Ichinose
- Biological Science Research, Kao Corporation, 1334 Minato, Wakayama, Wakayama, 640‑8580, Japan
| | - Nozomu Shibata
- Biological Science Research, Kao Corporation, 1334 Minato, Wakayama, Wakayama, 640‑8580, Japan
| | - Hiroshi Kakeshita
- Biological Science Research, Kao Corporation, 1334 Minato, Wakayama, Wakayama, 640‑8580, Japan.
| | - Hiroshi Kodama
- Biological Science Research, Kao Corporation, 1334 Minato, Wakayama, Wakayama, 640‑8580, Japan
| | - Kazuaki Igarashi
- Biological Science Research, Kao Corporation, 1334 Minato, Wakayama, Wakayama, 640‑8580, Japan
| | - Yasushi Takimura
- Biological Science Research, Kao Corporation, 1334 Minato, Wakayama, Wakayama, 640‑8580, Japan
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16
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Gao L, Liu G, Zhao Q, Xiao Z, Sun W, Hao X, Liu X, Zhang Z, Zhang P. Customized optimization of lignocellulolytic enzyme cocktails for efficient conversion of pectin-rich biomass residues. Carbohydr Polym 2022; 297:120025. [DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2022.120025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2022] [Revised: 07/18/2022] [Accepted: 08/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
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Exploring the multi-level regulation of lignocellulases in the filamentous fungus Trichoderma guizhouense NJAU4742 from an omics perspective. Microb Cell Fact 2022; 21:144. [PMID: 35842666 PMCID: PMC9288086 DOI: 10.1186/s12934-022-01869-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2022] [Accepted: 07/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Filamentous fungi are highly efficient at deconstructing plant biomass by secreting a variety of enzymes, but the complex enzymatic regulation underlying this process is not conserved and remains unclear. Results In this study, cellulases and xylanases could specifically respond to Avicel- and xylan-induction, respectively, in lignocellulose-degrading strain Trichoderma guizhouense NJAU4742, however, the differentially regulated cellulases and xylanases were both under the absolute control of the same TgXyr1-mediated pathway. Further analysis showed that Avicel could specifically induce cellulase expression, which supported the existence of an unknown specific regulator of cellulases in strain NJAU4742. The xylanase secretion is very complex, GH10 endoxylanases could only be induced by Avicel, while, other major xylanases were significantly induced by both Avicel and xylan. For GH10 xylanases, an unknown specific regulator was also deduced to exist. Meanwhile, the post-transcriptional inhibition was subsequently suggested to stop the Avicel-induced xylanases secretion, which explained the specifically high xylanase activities when induced by xylan in strain NJAU4742. Additionally, an economical strategy used by strain NJAU4742 was proposed to sense the environmental lignocellulose under the carbon starvation condition, that only slightly activating 4 lignocellulose-degrading genes before largely secreting all 33 TgXyr1-controlled lignocellulases if confirming the existence of lignocellulose components. Conclusions This study, aiming to explore the unknown mechanisms of plant biomass-degrading enzymes regulation through the combined omics analysis, will open directions for in-depth understanding the complex carbon utilization in filamentous fungi. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12934-022-01869-3.
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Xu W, Fang Y, Ding M, Ren Y, Meng X, Chen G, Zhang W, Liu W. Elimination of the Sugar Transporter GAT1 Increased Xylanase I Production in Trichoderma reesei. Front Microbiol 2022; 13:810066. [PMID: 35154055 PMCID: PMC8825865 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.810066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2021] [Accepted: 01/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The filamentous fungus Trichoderma reesei secretes large quantities of cellulases and hemicellulases that have found wide applications in industry. Compared with extensive studies on the mechanism controlling cellulase gene expression, less is known about the regulatory mechanism behind xylanase gene expression. Herein, several putative sugar transporter encoding genes that showed significant upregulation on xylan were identified in T. reesei. Deletion of one such gene, gat1, resulted in increased xylanase production but hardly affected cellulase induction. Further analyses demonstrated that deletion of gat1 markedly increased XYNI production at the transcriptional level and only exerted a minor effect on XYNII synthesis. In contrast, overexpressing gat1 caused a continuous decrease in xyn1 expression. Deletion of gat1 also affected the expression of xyn1 and pectinase genes when T. reesei was cultivated with galacturonic acid as the sole carbon source. Transcriptome analyses of Δgat1 and its parental strain identified 255 differentially expressed genes that are enriched in categories of glycoside hydrolases, lipid metabolism, transporters, and transcriptional factors. The results thus implicate a repressive role of the sugar transporter GAT1 in xyn1 expression and reveal that distinct regulatory mechanisms may exist in controlling the expression of different xylanase genes in T. reesei.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenqiang Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, China
| | - Yu Fang
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, China
| | - Mingyang Ding
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, China
| | - Yajing Ren
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, China
| | - Xiangfeng Meng
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, China
| | - Guanjun Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, China
| | - Weixin Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, China
| | - Weifeng Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, China
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Zhang W, Guo J, Wu X, Ren Y, Li C, Meng X, Liu W. Reformulating the Hydrolytic Enzyme Cocktail of Trichoderma reesei by Combining XYR1 Overexpression and Elimination of Four Major Cellulases to Improve Saccharification of Corn Fiber. JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD CHEMISTRY 2022; 70:211-222. [PMID: 34935374 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.1c05946] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
The industrial fungus Trichoderma reesei has an outstanding capability of secreting an enzyme cocktail comprising multiple plant biomass-degrading enzymes. Herein, the overexpression of XYR1, the master transactivator controlling (hemi)cellulase gene expression, was performed in T. reesei lacking four main cellulase-encoding genes. The resultant strain Δ4celOExyr1 was able to produce a dramatically different profile of secretory proteins on soluble glucose or lactose compared with that of the wild-type T. reesei. The Δ4celOExyr1 secretome included cellulases EGIII and BGLI as well as several hemicellulases and nonhydrolytic cellulose degradation-associated proteins that are not preferentially induced in the wild-type T. reesei strain. Δ4celOExyr1 produced a significant amount of α-arabinofuranosidase I on lactose, and the crude enzyme cocktail of Δ4celOExyr1 not only released a considerable quantity of glucose but also exhibited remarkable performance in the hydrolytic release of xylose, arabinose, and mannose from un-pretreated corn fiber. These results showed that the engineered T. reesei strain holds great potential for improving the saccharification efficiency of the hemicellulosic constituents within corn fiber.
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Affiliation(s)
- Weixin Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, No. 72 Binhai Road, Qingdao 266237, P. R. China
| | - Junqi Guo
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, No. 72 Binhai Road, Qingdao 266237, P. R. China
| | - Xiaoxiao Wu
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, No. 72 Binhai Road, Qingdao 266237, P. R. China
| | - Yajing Ren
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, No. 72 Binhai Road, Qingdao 266237, P. R. China
| | - Chunyan Li
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, No. 72 Binhai Road, Qingdao 266237, P. R. China
| | - Xiangfeng Meng
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, No. 72 Binhai Road, Qingdao 266237, P. R. China
| | - Weifeng Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, No. 72 Binhai Road, Qingdao 266237, P. R. China
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Martzy R, Mello-de-Sousa TM, Mach RL, Yaver D, Mach-Aigner AR. The phenomenon of degeneration of industrial Trichoderma reesei strains. BIOTECHNOLOGY FOR BIOFUELS 2021; 14:193. [PMID: 34598727 PMCID: PMC8487154 DOI: 10.1186/s13068-021-02043-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2021] [Accepted: 09/19/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Even if the loss of production capacity of a microorganism is said to be a serious problem in various biotechnology industries, reports in literature are rather rare. Strains of the genera Trichoderma reesei are used for large-scale production of cellulases, which are needed in food and feed, textile, paper industries and biofuel production. RESULTS Here, we describe the phenomenon of spontaneous degeneration of T. reesei strains during large-scale cultivation. The phenotype of the degenerated population is characterized most importantly by a loss of any cellulase formation. Interestingly, promoter regions of relevant genes had a more compact chromatin in the (cel -) strains compared to productive strains. For a systematic investigation of the phenomenon a protocol for artificially induced and lab-scaled strain degeneration was developed. This workflow allows to determine the degeneration rate and thus, to compare the occurrence of a degenerated population in differently productive strains on the one hand, and to monitor the success of any strategies to prevent or decrease the degeneration on the other hand. While highly productive strains have higher degeneration rates compared to moderate producers, the degeneration can hardly be triggered in moderate producers. The observed (cel -) phenotype is not caused by a mutation in the gene encoding the essential transactivator Xyr1. The development of a non-producing population is also not triggered by any compounds released by either producing or non-producing cells. CONCLUSIONS The extent of the occurrence of a degenerated strain population relates to the production capacity of the strain and goes along with chromatin condensation in relevant promoter regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Martzy
- Christian Doppler Laboratory for Optimized Expression of Carbohydrate-Active Enzymes, Institute of Chemical, Environmental and Bioscience Engineering, TU Wien, Gumpendorfer Str. 1a, 1060, Vienna, Austria
| | - T M Mello-de-Sousa
- Christian Doppler Laboratory for Optimized Expression of Carbohydrate-Active Enzymes, Institute of Chemical, Environmental and Bioscience Engineering, TU Wien, Gumpendorfer Str. 1a, 1060, Vienna, Austria
| | - R L Mach
- Institute of Chemical, Environmental and Bioscience Engineering, TU Wien, Gumpendorfer Str. 1a, 1060, Vienna, Austria
| | - D Yaver
- Production Strain Technology, Novozymes Inc., Davis, CA, USA
| | - A R Mach-Aigner
- Christian Doppler Laboratory for Optimized Expression of Carbohydrate-Active Enzymes, Institute of Chemical, Environmental and Bioscience Engineering, TU Wien, Gumpendorfer Str. 1a, 1060, Vienna, Austria.
- Institute of Chemical, Environmental and Bioscience Engineering, TU Wien, Gumpendorfer Str. 1a, 1060, Vienna, Austria.
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Xia C, Gao L, Li Z, Liu G, Song X. Functional analysis of the transcriptional activator XlnR of Penicillium oxalicum. J Appl Microbiol 2021; 132:1112-1120. [PMID: 34467597 DOI: 10.1111/jam.15276] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2021] [Revised: 07/31/2021] [Accepted: 08/23/2021] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
AIMS The aim of this article is to study the functional features of Penicillium oxalicum transcriptional activator XlnR. METHODS AND RESULTS The yeast reporter system was used to identify transcriptional activation domain of XlnR in P. oxalicum. The expression cassette was introduced into the xlnR locus of P. oxalicum by homologous recombination. In this study, several putative structural domains in P. oxalicum XlnR were predicted by bioinformatics analysis, and the transcriptional activation domain (351-694 region) was identified in XlnR relying on reporter gene system in yeast. In addition, the amino acid at XlnR 871 site (alanine) located in the regulatory region could influence the regulatory activity of XlnR directly. When the alanine at XlnR 871 site was replaced by stronger hydrophobic amino acid (e.g. valine or isoleucine), the regulatory activity will be greatly improved, especially for the regulation of hemicellulase genes expression. When alanine at XlnR 871 site was mutated to a hydrophilic amino acid (e.g. aspartic acid or arginine), the regulatory activity of XlnR will be reduced. CONCLUSIONS The 351-694 region of P. oxalicum XlnR was identified as transcriptional activation domain, and the regulatory activity of XlnR was greatly influenced by hydrophobicity of amino acid at 871 site of XlnR in P. oxalicum. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY The results will provide an effective target site to regulate the activity of XlnR and improve cellulase production of P. oxalicum.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chengqiang Xia
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, Shandong Province, China.,College of Animal Science, Shanxi Agricultural University, Taigu, Shanxi Province, China
| | - Liwei Gao
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, Shandong Province, China
| | - Zhonghai Li
- State Key Laboratory of Biobased Material and Green Papermaking, Qilu University of Technology, Shandong Academy of Sciences, Jinan, China
| | - Guodong Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, Shandong Province, China.,National Glycoengineering Research Center, Shandong University, Qingdao, Shandong Province, China
| | - Xin Song
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, Shandong Province, China.,National Glycoengineering Research Center, Shandong University, Qingdao, Shandong Province, China
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Mondal S, Halder SK, Mondal KC. Tailoring in fungi for next generation cellulase production with special reference to CRISPR/CAS system. SYSTEMS MICROBIOLOGY AND BIOMANUFACTURING 2021; 2:113-129. [PMID: 38624901 PMCID: PMC8319711 DOI: 10.1007/s43393-021-00045-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2021] [Revised: 07/14/2021] [Accepted: 07/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Cellulose is the utmost plenteous source of biopolymer in our earth, and fungi are the most efficient and ubiquitous organism in degrading the cellulosic biomass by synthesizing cellulases. Tailoring through genetic manipulation has played a substantial role in constructing novel fungal strains towards improved cellulase production of desired traits. However, the traditional methods of genetic manipulation of fungi are time-consuming and tedious. With the availability of the full-genome sequences of several industrially relevant filamentous fungi, CRISPR-CAS (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated protein) technology has come into the focus for the proficient development of manipulated strains of filamentous fungi. This review summarizes the mode of action of cellulases, transcription level regulation for cellulase expression, various traditional strategies of genetic manipulation with CRISPR-CAS technology to develop modified fungal strains for a preferred level of cellulase production, and the futuristic trend in this arena of research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Subhadeep Mondal
- Center for Life Sciences, Vidyasagar University, Midnapore, 721102 West Bengal India
| | - Suman Kumar Halder
- Department of Microbiology, Vidyasagar University, Midnapore, 721102 West Bengal India
| | - Keshab Chandra Mondal
- Department of Microbiology, Vidyasagar University, Midnapore, 721102 West Bengal India
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Havukainen S, Pujol-Giménez J, Valkonen M, Westerholm-Parvinen A, Hediger MA, Landowski CP. Electrophysiological characterization of a diverse group of sugar transporters from Trichoderma reesei. Sci Rep 2021; 11:14678. [PMID: 34282161 PMCID: PMC8290022 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-93552-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2021] [Accepted: 06/21/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Trichoderma reesei is an ascomycete fungus known for its capability to secrete high amounts of extracellular cellulose- and hemicellulose-degrading enzymes. These enzymes are utilized in the production of second-generation biofuels and T. reesei is a well-established host for their production. Although this species has gained considerable interest in the scientific literature, the sugar transportome of T. reesei remains poorly characterized. Better understanding of the proteins involved in the transport of different sugars could be utilized for engineering better enzyme production strains. In this study we aimed to shed light on this matter by characterizing multiple T. reesei transporters capable of transporting various types of sugars. We used phylogenetics to select transporters for expression in Xenopus laevis oocytes to screen for transport activities. Of the 18 tested transporters, 8 were found to be functional in oocytes. 10 transporters in total were investigated in oocytes and in yeast, and for 3 of them no transport function had been described in literature. This comprehensive analysis provides a large body of new knowledge about T. reesei sugar transporters, and further establishes X. laevis oocytes as a valuable tool for studying fungal sugar transporters.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sami Havukainen
- Protein Production Team, VTT Technical Research Center of Finland Ltd, Tietotie 2, 02150, Espoo, Finland
| | - Jonai Pujol-Giménez
- Membrane Transport Discovery Lab, Department of Biomedical Research, Inselspital, University of Bern, 3010, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Mari Valkonen
- Protein Production Team, VTT Technical Research Center of Finland Ltd, Tietotie 2, 02150, Espoo, Finland
| | - Ann Westerholm-Parvinen
- Protein Production Team, VTT Technical Research Center of Finland Ltd, Tietotie 2, 02150, Espoo, Finland
| | - Matthias A Hediger
- Membrane Transport Discovery Lab, Department of Biomedical Research, Inselspital, University of Bern, 3010, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Christopher P Landowski
- Protein Production Team, VTT Technical Research Center of Finland Ltd, Tietotie 2, 02150, Espoo, Finland.
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24
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25
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Yan S, Xu Y, Yu XW. Rational engineering of xylanase hyper-producing system in Trichoderma reesei for efficient biomass degradation. BIOTECHNOLOGY FOR BIOFUELS 2021; 14:90. [PMID: 33832521 PMCID: PMC8033665 DOI: 10.1186/s13068-021-01943-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2021] [Accepted: 03/27/2021] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Filamentous fungus Trichoderma reesei has been widely used as a workhorse for cellulase and xylanase productions. Xylanase has been reported as the crucial accessory enzyme in the degradation of lignocellulose for higher accessibility of cellulase. In addition, the efficient hydrolysis of xylan needs the co-work of multiple xylanolytic enzymes, which rise an increasing demand for the high yield of xylanase for efficient biomass degradation. RESULTS In this study, a xylanase hyper-producing system in T. reesei was established by tailoring two transcription factors, XYR1 and ACE1, and homologous overexpression of the major endo-xylanase XYNII. The expressed xylanase cocktail contained 5256 U/mL xylanase activity and 9.25 U/mL β-xylosidase (pNPXase) activity. Meanwhile, the transcription level of the xylanolytic genes in the strain with XYR1 overexpressed was upregulated, which was well correlated with the amount of XYR1-binding sites. In addition, the higher expression of associated xylanolytic enzymes would result in more efficient xylan hydrolysis. Besides, 2310-3085 U/mL of xylanase activities were achieved using soluble carbon source, which was more efficient and economical than the traditional strategy of xylan induction. Unexpectedly, deletion of ace1 in C30OExyr1 did not give any improvement, which might be the result of the disturbed function of the complex formed between ACE1 and XYR1. The enzymatic hydrolysis of alkali pretreated corn stover using the crude xylanase cocktails as accessory enzymes resulted in a 36.64% increase in saccharification efficiency with the ratio of xylanase activity vs FPase activity at 500, compared to that using cellulase alone. CONCLUSIONS An efficient and economical xylanase hyper-producing platform was developed in T. reesei RUT-C30. The novel platform with outstanding ability for crude xylanase cocktail production would greatly fit in biomass degradation and give a new perspective of further engineering in T. reesei for industrial purposes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Su Yan
- Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, People's Republic of China
| | - Yan Xu
- Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, People's Republic of China
| | - Xiao-Wei Yu
- Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, People's Republic of China.
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Gao L, He X, Guo Y, Wu Z, Zhao J, Liu G, Qu Y. Combinatorial Engineering of Transcriptional Activators in Penicillium oxalicum for Improved Production of Corn-Fiber-Degrading Enzymes. JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD CHEMISTRY 2021; 69:2539-2548. [PMID: 33619954 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.0c07659] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Enzymatic conversion of corn fiber to fermentable sugars is beneficial to improving the economic efficiency of corn processing. In this work, the filamentous fungus Penicillium oxalicum was found to secrete enzymes for efficient saccharification of un-pretreated corn fiber. Separate engineering of transcriptional activators ClrB, XlnR, and AraR led to enhanced production of different sets of lignocellulolytic enzymes. Particularly, the enzymes produced by XlnR- and AraR-engineered strains showed a synergistic effect in corn fiber saccharification. Combinatorial engineering of all three activators generated a strain MCAX with 3.1- to 51.0-fold increases in lignocellulolytic enzyme production compared with the parent strain. In addition, the enzymes of strain MCAX released significantly more fermentable sugars from corn fiber than those of the parent strain at the same protein dosage. The results suggest that this strain has potential for on-site production of enzymes for corn fiber saccharification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liwei Gao
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, 72 Binhai Road, 266237 Qingdao, China
- Tobacco Research Institute of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 11 Keyuanjingsi Road, 266101 Qingdao, China
| | - Xin He
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, 72 Binhai Road, 266237 Qingdao, China
| | - Yingjie Guo
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, 72 Binhai Road, 266237 Qingdao, China
| | - Zehua Wu
- Research and Development Department, Shandong Shouguang Juneng Golden Corn Co., Ltd., Anshun Street, Shouguang, 262700 Weifang, China
| | - Jian Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, 72 Binhai Road, 266237 Qingdao, China
| | - Guodong Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, 72 Binhai Road, 266237 Qingdao, China
| | - Yinbo Qu
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, 72 Binhai Road, 266237 Qingdao, China
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Wang L, Zhang W, Cao Y, Zheng F, Zhao G, Lv X, Meng X, Liu W. Interdependent recruitment of CYC8/TUP1 and the transcriptional activator XYR1 at target promoters is required for induced cellulase gene expression in Trichoderma reesei. PLoS Genet 2021; 17:e1009351. [PMID: 33606681 PMCID: PMC7894907 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1009351] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2020] [Accepted: 01/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Cellulase production in filamentous fungus Trichoderma reesei is highly responsive to various environmental cues involving multiple positive and negative regulators. XYR1 (Xylanase regulator 1) has been identified as the key transcriptional activator of cellulase gene expression in T. reesei. However, the precise mechanism by which XYR1 achieves transcriptional activation of cellulase genes is still not fully understood. Here, we identified the TrCYC8/TUP1 complex as a novel coactivator for XYR1 in T. reesei. CYC8/TUP1 is the first identified transcriptional corepressor complex mediating repression of diverse genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Knockdown of Trcyc8 or Trtup1 resulted in markedly impaired cellulase gene expression in T. reesei. We found that TrCYC8/TUP1 was recruited to cellulase gene promoters upon cellulose induction and this recruitment is dependent on XYR1. We further observed that repressed Trtup1 or Trcyc8 expression caused a strong defect in XYR1 occupancy and loss of histone H4 at cellulase gene promoters. The defects in XYR1 binding and transcriptional activation of target genes in Trtup1 or Trcyc8 repressed cells could not be overcome by XYR1 overexpression. Our results reveal a novel coactivator function for TrCYC8/TUP1 at the level of activator binding, and suggest a mechanism in which interdependent recruitment of XYR1 and TrCYC8/TUP1 to cellulase gene promoters represents an important regulatory circuit in ensuring the induced cellulase gene expression. These findings thus contribute to unveiling the intricate regulatory mechanism underlying XYR1-mediated cellulase gene activation and also provide an important clue that will help further improve cellulase production by T. reesei.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lei Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Microbial Technology Institute, Shandong University, Qingdao, Shandong, People’s Republic of China
| | - Weixin Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Microbial Technology Institute, Shandong University, Qingdao, Shandong, People’s Republic of China
| | - Yanli Cao
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Microbial Technology Institute, Shandong University, Qingdao, Shandong, People’s Republic of China
| | - Fanglin Zheng
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Microbial Technology Institute, Shandong University, Qingdao, Shandong, People’s Republic of China
| | - Guolei Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Microbial Technology Institute, Shandong University, Qingdao, Shandong, People’s Republic of China
| | - Xinxing Lv
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Microbial Technology Institute, Shandong University, Qingdao, Shandong, People’s Republic of China
| | - Xiangfeng Meng
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Microbial Technology Institute, Shandong University, Qingdao, Shandong, People’s Republic of China
| | - Weifeng Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Microbial Technology Institute, Shandong University, Qingdao, Shandong, People’s Republic of China
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Wu H, Nakazawa T, Morimoto R, Sakamoto M, Honda Y. Targeted disruption of hir1 alters the transcriptional expression pattern of putative lignocellulolytic genes in the white-rot fungus Pleurotus ostreatus. Fungal Genet Biol 2021; 147:103507. [PMID: 33383191 DOI: 10.1016/j.fgb.2020.103507] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2020] [Revised: 11/28/2020] [Accepted: 12/22/2020] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Pleurotus ostreatus is frequently used in molecular genetics and genomic studies on white-rot fungi because various molecular genetic tools and relatively well-annotated genome databases are available. To explore the molecular mechanisms underlying wood lignin degradation by P. ostreatus, we performed mutational analysis of a newly isolated mutant UVRM28 that exhibits decreased lignin-degrading ability on the beech wood sawdust medium. We identified that a mutation in the hir1 gene encoding a putative histone chaperone, which probably plays an important role in DNA replication-independent nucleosome assembly, is responsible for the mutant phenotype. The expression pattern of ligninolytic genes was altered in hir1 disruptants. The most highly expressed gene vp2 was significantly inactivated, whereas the expression of vp1 was remarkably upregulated (300-400 fold) at the transcription level. Conversely, many cellulolytic and xylanolytic genes were upregulated in hir1 disruptants. Chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis suggested that the histone modification status was altered in the 5'-upstream regions of some of the up- and down-regulated lignocellulolytic genes in hir1 disruptants compared with that in the 20b strain. Hence, our data provide new insights into the regulatory mechanisms of lignocellulolytic genes in P. ostreatus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hongli Wu
- Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
| | - Takehito Nakazawa
- Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan.
| | - Ryota Morimoto
- Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
| | - Masahiro Sakamoto
- Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
| | - Yoichi Honda
- Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
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Pirayre A, Duval L, Blugeon C, Firmo C, Perrin S, Jourdier E, Margeot A, Bidard F. Glucose-lactose mixture feeds in industry-like conditions: a gene regulatory network analysis on the hyperproducing Trichoderma reesei strain Rut-C30. BMC Genomics 2020; 21:885. [PMID: 33302864 PMCID: PMC7731781 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-020-07281-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2020] [Accepted: 11/25/2020] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The degradation of cellulose and hemicellulose molecules into simpler sugars such as glucose is part of the second generation biofuel production process. Hydrolysis of lignocellulosic substrates is usually performed by enzymes produced and secreted by the fungus Trichoderma reesei. Studies identifying transcription factors involved in the regulation of cellulase production have been conducted but no overview of the whole regulation network is available. A transcriptomic approach with mixtures of glucose and lactose, used as a substrate for cellulase induction, was used to help us decipher missing parts in the network of T. reesei Rut-C30. RESULTS Experimental results on the Rut-C30 hyperproducing strain confirmed the impact of sugar mixtures on the enzymatic cocktail composition. The transcriptomic study shows a temporal regulation of the main transcription factors and a lactose concentration impact on the transcriptional profile. A gene regulatory network built using BRANE Cut software reveals three sub-networks related to i) a positive correlation between lactose concentration and cellulase production, ii) a particular dependence of the lactose onto the β-glucosidase regulation and iii) a negative regulation of the development process and growth. CONCLUSIONS This work is the first investigating a transcriptomic study regarding the effects of pure and mixed carbon sources in a fed-batch mode. Our study expose a co-orchestration of xyr1, clr2 and ace3 for cellulase and hemicellulase induction and production, a fine regulation of the β-glucosidase and a decrease of growth in favor of cellulase production. These conclusions provide us with potential targets for further genetic engineering leading to better cellulase-producing strains in industry-like conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aurélie Pirayre
- IFP Energies nouvelles, 1 et 4 avenue de Bois-Préau, Rueil-Malmaison, 92852, France.
| | - Laurent Duval
- IFP Energies nouvelles, 1 et 4 avenue de Bois-Préau, Rueil-Malmaison, 92852, France
- Laboratoire d'Informatique Gaspard-Monge (LIGM), ESIEE Paris, Université-Gustave Eiffel, Marne-la-Vallée, F-77454, France
| | - Corinne Blugeon
- Genomic facility, Institut de Biologie de l'ENS (IBENS), Département de biologie, École normale supérieure, CNRS, INSERM, Université PSL, Paris, 75005, France
| | - Cyril Firmo
- Genomic facility, Institut de Biologie de l'ENS (IBENS), Département de biologie, École normale supérieure, CNRS, INSERM, Université PSL, Paris, 75005, France
| | - Sandrine Perrin
- Genomic facility, Institut de Biologie de l'ENS (IBENS), Département de biologie, École normale supérieure, CNRS, INSERM, Université PSL, Paris, 75005, France
| | - Etienne Jourdier
- IFP Energies nouvelles, 1 et 4 avenue de Bois-Préau, Rueil-Malmaison, 92852, France
| | - Antoine Margeot
- IFP Energies nouvelles, 1 et 4 avenue de Bois-Préau, Rueil-Malmaison, 92852, France
| | - Frédérique Bidard
- IFP Energies nouvelles, 1 et 4 avenue de Bois-Préau, Rueil-Malmaison, 92852, France
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Zheng F, Yang R, Cao Y, Zhang W, Lv X, Meng X, Zhong Y, Chen G, Zhou Q, Liu W. Engineering Trichoderma reesei for Hyperproduction of Cellulases on Glucose to Efficiently Saccharify Pretreated Corncobs. JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD CHEMISTRY 2020; 68:12671-12682. [PMID: 33140639 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.0c04663] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
The filamentous fungus Trichoderma reesei (teleomorph Hypocrea jecorina) is widely used as a cellulase producer in the industry. Herein, we describe the rational engineering of the publicly available T. reesei QM9414 strain to achieve a remarkable high-level production of cellulase on glucose. Overexpression of the key cellulase regulator XYR1 by the copper-repressible promoter Ptcu1 was first implemented to achieve a full cellulase production in the context of catabolite repression (CCR) while eliminating the requirement of inducing sugars for enzyme production. The T. reesei bgl1 gene was further overexpressed to compensate for its low β-glucosidase activity on glucose. This overexpression resulted in a 102% increase in FPase activity compared with the CCR-released RUT-C30 strain cultured on Avicel. Moreover, the saccharification efficiency toward pretreated corncob residues by crude enzymes from the engineered strain on glucose increased by 85% compared with that treated by enzymes from RUT-C30 cultivated on Avicel. The engineered T. reesei strain thus shows great potential as a viable alternative to deliver commercial cellulases after further optimization for efficient saccharification of agricultural waste.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fanglin Zheng
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Institute of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, No.72 Binhai Road, Qingdao, Shandong 266237, P. R. China
| | - Renfei Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Institute of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, No.72 Binhai Road, Qingdao, Shandong 266237, P. R. China
| | - Yanli Cao
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Institute of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, No.72 Binhai Road, Qingdao, Shandong 266237, P. R. China
| | - Weixin Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Institute of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, No.72 Binhai Road, Qingdao, Shandong 266237, P. R. China
| | - Xinxing Lv
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Institute of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, No.72 Binhai Road, Qingdao, Shandong 266237, P. R. China
| | - Xiangfeng Meng
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Institute of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, No.72 Binhai Road, Qingdao, Shandong 266237, P. R. China
| | - Yaohua Zhong
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Institute of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, No.72 Binhai Road, Qingdao, Shandong 266237, P. R. China
| | - Guanjun Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Institute of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, No.72 Binhai Road, Qingdao, Shandong 266237, P. R. China
| | - Qingxin Zhou
- Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences/Key Laboratory of Agro-Products Processing Technology of Shandong Province/Key Laboratory of Novel Food Resources Processing, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Institute of Agro-Food Science and Technology, No.202 Gongye North Road, Jinan 250100, P. R. China
- College of Life Science, Shandong Normal University, No.88 Wenhua East Road, Jinan 250014, P. R. China
| | - Weifeng Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Institute of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, No.72 Binhai Road, Qingdao, Shandong 266237, P. R. China
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Molecular engineering to improve lignocellulosic biomass based applications using filamentous fungi. ADVANCES IN APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY 2020; 114:73-109. [PMID: 33934853 DOI: 10.1016/bs.aambs.2020.09.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Lignocellulosic biomass is an abundant and renewable resource, and its utilization has become the focus of research and biotechnology applications as a very promising raw material for the production of value-added compounds. Filamentous fungi play an important role in the production of various lignocellulolytic enzymes, while some of them have also been used for the production of important metabolites. However, wild type strains have limited efficiency in enzyme production or metabolic conversion, and therefore many efforts have been made to engineer improved strains. Examples of this are the manipulation of transcriptional regulators and/or promoters of enzyme-encoding genes to increase gene expression, and protein engineering to improve the biochemical characteristics of specific enzymes. This review provides and overview of the applications of filamentous fungi in lignocellulosic biomass based processes and the development and current status of various molecular engineering strategies to improve these processes.
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Derntl C, Mach R, Mach-Aigner A. Application of the human estrogen receptor within a synthetic transcription factor in Trichoderma reesei. Fungal Biol Biotechnol 2020; 7:12. [PMID: 32765896 PMCID: PMC7396459 DOI: 10.1186/s40694-020-00102-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2020] [Accepted: 07/17/2020] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Synthetic gene expression systems offer a possibility for controllable and targeted induction of the expression of genes of interest, which is a fundamental technique necessary for basic research and industrial applications. The human estrogen receptor α contains a ligand binding domain that enforces dimerization and nuclear import upon binding of the inducer 17β-estradiol. In this study, we tested the potential of this ligand binding domain to be used in filamentous fungi as an auto-regulatory domain in a synthetic transcription factor. Results We constructed the synthetic transcription factor SynX by fusing the DNA-binding domain of Xyr1 (Xylanase Regulator 1), the transactivation domain of Ypr1 (Yellow Pigment Regulator 1), and the ligand binding domain of the human estrogen receptor α. SynX is able to strongly induce the gene expression of xylanases and an aldose reductase by addition of 17β-estradiol, but SynX does not induce gene expression of cellulases. Importantly, the induction of xylanase activities is mostly carbon source independent and can be fine-tuned by controlling the concentration of 17β-estradiol. Conclusion The ability of SynX to induce gene expression of xylanase encoding genes by addition of 17β-estradiol demonstrates that the ligand binding domain of the human estrogen receptor α works in filamentous fungi, and that it can be combined with a transactivation domain other than the commonly used transactivation domain of herpes simplex virion protein VP16.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian Derntl
- Institute of Chemical, Environmental and Bioscience Engineering, TU Wien, Gumpendorfer Strasse 1a, 1060 Vienna, Austria
| | - Robert Mach
- Institute of Chemical, Environmental and Bioscience Engineering, TU Wien, Gumpendorfer Strasse 1a, 1060 Vienna, Austria
| | - Astrid Mach-Aigner
- Institute of Chemical, Environmental and Bioscience Engineering, TU Wien, Gumpendorfer Strasse 1a, 1060 Vienna, Austria
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Luo Y, Valkonen M, Jackson RE, Palmer JM, Bhalla A, Nikolaev I, Saloheimo M, Ward M. Modification of transcriptional factor ACE3 enhances protein production in Trichoderma reesei in the absence of cellulase gene inducer. BIOTECHNOLOGY FOR BIOFUELS 2020; 13:137. [PMID: 32782473 PMCID: PMC7412840 DOI: 10.1186/s13068-020-01778-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2020] [Accepted: 07/29/2020] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Trichoderma reesei is one of the best-known cellulolytic organisms, producing large quantities of a complete set of extracellular cellulases and hemicellulases for the degradation of lignocellulosic substances. Hence, T. reesei is a biotechnically important host and it is used commercially in enzyme production, of both native and foreign origin. Many strategies for producing enzymes in T. reesei rely on the cbh1 and other cellulase gene promoters for high-level expression and these promoters require induction by sophorose, lactose or other inducers for high productivity during manufacturing. RESULTS We described an approach for producing high levels of secreted proteins by overexpression of a transcription factor ACE3 in T. reesei. We refined the ace3 gene structure and identified specific ACE3 variants that enable production of secreted cellulases and hemicellulases on glucose as a sole carbon source (i.e., in the absence of an inducer). These specific ACE3 variants contain a full-length Zn2Cys6 binuclear cluster domain at the N-terminus and a defined length of truncations at the C-terminus. When expressed at a moderate level in the fungal cells, the ACE3 variants can induce high-level expression of cellulases and hemicellulases on glucose (i.e., in the absence of an inducer), and further improve expression on lactose or glucose/sophorose (i.e., in the presence of an inducer). Finally, we demonstrated that this method is applicable to industrial strains and fermentation conditions, improving protein production both in the absence and in the presence of an inducer. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrates that overexpression of ACE3 variants enables a high level of protein production in the absence of an inducer, and boosts protein production in the presence of an inducer. It is an efficient approach to increase protein productivity and to reduce manufacturing costs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yun Luo
- DuPont Industrial Biosciences, Genencor Research Center, 925 Page Mill Road, Palo Alto, CA 94304 USA
| | - Mari Valkonen
- VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd, P.O. Box 1000, FI-02044 VTT Espoo, Finland
| | - Raymond E. Jackson
- DuPont Experimental Station, 200 Powder Mill Road, Wilmington, DE 19803 USA
| | - Jonathan M. Palmer
- DuPont Industrial Biosciences, Genencor Research Center, 925 Page Mill Road, Palo Alto, CA 94304 USA
| | - Aditya Bhalla
- DuPont Industrial Biosciences, Genencor Research Center, 925 Page Mill Road, Palo Alto, CA 94304 USA
| | - Igor Nikolaev
- DuPont Industrial Biosciences, Genencor B.V., Willem Einthovenstraat 4, 2342 BH Oegstgeest, The Netherlands
| | - Markku Saloheimo
- VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd, P.O. Box 1000, FI-02044 VTT Espoo, Finland
| | - Michael Ward
- DuPont Industrial Biosciences, Genencor Research Center, 925 Page Mill Road, Palo Alto, CA 94304 USA
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Wu H, Nakazawa T, Takenaka A, Kodera R, Morimoto R, Sakamoto M, Honda Y. Transcriptional shifts in delignification-defective mutants of the white-rot fungus Pleurotus ostreatus. FEBS Lett 2020; 594:3182-3199. [PMID: 32697375 DOI: 10.1002/1873-3468.13890] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2020] [Revised: 07/13/2020] [Accepted: 07/16/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
White-rot fungi efficiently degrade lignin and, thus, play a pivotal role in the global carbon cycle. However, the mechanisms of lignin degradation are largely unknown. Recently, mutations in four genes, namely wtr1, chd1, pex1, and gat1, were shown to abrogate the wood lignin-degrading ability of Pleurotus ostreatus. In this study, we conducted a comparative transcriptome analysis to identify genes that are differentially expressed in ligninolysis-deficient mutant strains. Putative ligninolytic genes that are highly expressed in parental strains are significantly downregulated in the mutant strains. On the contrary, many putative cellulolytic and xylanolytic genes are upregulated in the chd1-1, Δpex1, and Δgat1 strains. Identifying transcriptional alterations in mutant strains could provide new insights into the regulatory mechanisms of lignocellulolytic genes in P. ostreatus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hongli Wu
- Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | | | - Atsuki Takenaka
- Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Rina Kodera
- Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Ryota Morimoto
- Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | | | - Yoichi Honda
- Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
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Meng QS, Zhang F, Wang W, Liu CG, Zhao XQ, Bai FW. Engineering the Effector Domain of the Artificial Transcription Factor to Improve Cellulase Production by Trichoderma reesei. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2020; 8:675. [PMID: 32671045 PMCID: PMC7330100 DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2020.00675] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2020] [Accepted: 06/01/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Filamentous fungal strains of Trichoderma reesei have been widely used for cellulase production, and great effort has been devoted to enhancing their cellulase titers for the economic biorefinery of lignocellulosic biomass. In our previous studies, artificial zinc finger proteins (AZFPs) with the Gal4 effector domain were used to enhance cellulase biosynthesis in T. reesei, and it is of great interest to modify the AZFPs to further improve cellulase production. In this study, the endogenous activation domain from the transcription activator Xyr1 was used to replace the activation domain of Gal4 of the AZFP to explore impact on cellulase production. The cellulase producer T. reesei TU-6 was used as a host strain, and the engineered strains containing the Xyr1 and the Gal4 activation domains were named as T. reesei QS2 and T. reesei QS1, respectively. Compared to T. reesei QS1, activities of filter paper and endoglucanases in crude cellulase produced by T. reesei QS2 increased 24.6 and 50.4%, respectively. Real-time qPCR analysis also revealed significant up-regulation of major genes encoding cellulase in T. reesei QS2. Furthermore, the biomass hydrolytic performance of the cellulase was evaluated, and 83.8 and 97.9% more glucose was released during the hydrolysis of pretreated corn stover using crude enzyme produced by T. reesei QS2, when compared to the hydrolysis with cellulase produced by T. reesei QS1 and the parent strain T. reesei TU-6. As a result, we proved that the effector domain in the AZFPs can be optimized to construct more effective artificial transcription factors for engineering T. reesei to improve its cellulase production.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qing-Shan Meng
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, Joint International Research Laboratory of Metabolic and Developmental Sciences, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Fei Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, Joint International Research Laboratory of Metabolic and Developmental Sciences, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Wei Wang
- State Key Lab of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, China
| | - Chen-Guang Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, Joint International Research Laboratory of Metabolic and Developmental Sciences, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Xin-Qing Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, Joint International Research Laboratory of Metabolic and Developmental Sciences, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Feng-Wu Bai
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, Joint International Research Laboratory of Metabolic and Developmental Sciences, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
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Wu VW, Thieme N, Huberman LB, Dietschmann A, Kowbel DJ, Lee J, Calhoun S, Singan VR, Lipzen A, Xiong Y, Monti R, Blow MJ, O'Malley RC, Grigoriev IV, Benz JP, Glass NL. The regulatory and transcriptional landscape associated with carbon utilization in a filamentous fungus. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2020; 117:6003-6013. [PMID: 32111691 PMCID: PMC7084071 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1915611117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Filamentous fungi, such as Neurospora crassa, are very efficient in deconstructing plant biomass by the secretion of an arsenal of plant cell wall-degrading enzymes, by remodeling metabolism to accommodate production of secreted enzymes, and by enabling transport and intracellular utilization of plant biomass components. Although a number of enzymes and transcriptional regulators involved in plant biomass utilization have been identified, how filamentous fungi sense and integrate nutritional information encoded in the plant cell wall into a regulatory hierarchy for optimal utilization of complex carbon sources is not understood. Here, we performed transcriptional profiling of N. crassa on 40 different carbon sources, including plant biomass, to provide data on how fungi sense simple to complex carbohydrates. From these data, we identified regulatory factors in N. crassa and characterized one (PDR-2) associated with pectin utilization and one with pectin/hemicellulose utilization (ARA-1). Using in vitro DNA affinity purification sequencing (DAP-seq), we identified direct targets of transcription factors involved in regulating genes encoding plant cell wall-degrading enzymes. In particular, our data clarified the role of the transcription factor VIB-1 in the regulation of genes encoding plant cell wall-degrading enzymes and nutrient scavenging and revealed a major role of the carbon catabolite repressor CRE-1 in regulating the expression of major facilitator transporter genes. These data contribute to a more complete understanding of cross talk between transcription factors and their target genes, which are involved in regulating nutrient sensing and plant biomass utilization on a global level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vincent W Wu
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
- Energy Biosciences Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94704
| | - Nils Thieme
- Holzforschung München, Technical University of Munich School of Life Sciences Weihenstephan, Technical University of Munich, 85354 Freising, Germany
| | - Lori B Huberman
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
- Energy Biosciences Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94704
| | - Axel Dietschmann
- Holzforschung München, Technical University of Munich School of Life Sciences Weihenstephan, Technical University of Munich, 85354 Freising, Germany
| | - David J Kowbel
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
| | - Juna Lee
- US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720
| | - Sara Calhoun
- US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720
| | - Vasanth R Singan
- US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720
| | - Anna Lipzen
- US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720
| | - Yi Xiong
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
- Energy Biosciences Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94704
| | - Remo Monti
- US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720
| | - Matthew J Blow
- US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720
| | - Ronan C O'Malley
- US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720
| | - Igor V Grigoriev
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
- US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720
| | - J Philipp Benz
- Holzforschung München, Technical University of Munich School of Life Sciences Weihenstephan, Technical University of Munich, 85354 Freising, Germany
| | - N Louise Glass
- Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720;
- Energy Biosciences Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94704
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720
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Effect of VIB Gene on Cellulase Production of Trichoderma orientalis EU7-22. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 2020; 191:1444-1455. [DOI: 10.1007/s12010-020-03260-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2019] [Accepted: 02/13/2020] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
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38
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Chen Y, Wu C, Fan X, Zhao X, Zhao X, Shen T, Wei D, Wang W. Engineering of Trichoderma reesei for enhanced degradation of lignocellulosic biomass by truncation of the cellulase activator ACE3. BIOTECHNOLOGY FOR BIOFUELS 2020; 13:62. [PMID: 32266008 PMCID: PMC7110754 DOI: 10.1186/s13068-020-01701-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2019] [Accepted: 03/24/2020] [Indexed: 05/07/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The filamentous fungus Trichoderma reesei is a major workhorse employed to produce cellulase, which hydrolyzes lignocellulosic biomass for the production of cellulosic ethanol and bio-based products. However, the economic efficiency of biorefineries is still low. RESULTS In this study, the truncation of cellulase activator ACE3 was identified and characterized in T. reesei classical mutant NG14 and its direct descendants for the first time. We demonstrated that the truncated ACE3 is the crucial cause of cellulase hyper-production in T. reesei NG14 branch. Replacing the native ACE3 with truncated ACE3 in other T. reesei strains remarkably improves cellulase production. By truncating ACE3, we engineered a T. reesei mutant, PC-3-7-A723, capable of producing more cellulase than other strains. In a 30-L fermenter, fed-batch fermentation with PC-3-7-A723 drastically increased the maximum cellulase titer (FPase) to 102.63 IU/mL at 240 h, which constitutes a 20-30% improvement to that of the parental strain PC-3-7. CONCLUSIONS This work characterized the function of truncated ACE3 and demonstrated that analysis of classical mutants allows rational engineering of mutant strains with improved cellulase production necessary to process lignocellulosic biomass. Our rational engineering strategy might be useful for enhancing the production of other bio-based products.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yumeng Chen
- State Key Lab of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, P.O.B. 311, 130 Meilong Road, Shanghai, 200237 China
| | - Chuan Wu
- State Key Lab of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, P.O.B. 311, 130 Meilong Road, Shanghai, 200237 China
| | - Xingjia Fan
- State Key Lab of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, P.O.B. 311, 130 Meilong Road, Shanghai, 200237 China
| | - Xinqing Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, Joint International Research Laboratory of Metabolic & Developmental Sciences, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240 China
| | - Xihua Zhao
- College of Life Science, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang, 330022 China
| | - Tao Shen
- Sunson Industry Group Co, Ltd,, Beijing, China
| | - Dongzhi Wei
- State Key Lab of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, P.O.B. 311, 130 Meilong Road, Shanghai, 200237 China
| | - Wei Wang
- State Key Lab of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, P.O.B. 311, 130 Meilong Road, Shanghai, 200237 China
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Fonseca LM, Parreiras LS, Murakami MT. Rational engineering of the Trichoderma reesei RUT-C30 strain into an industrially relevant platform for cellulase production. BIOTECHNOLOGY FOR BIOFUELS 2020; 13:93. [PMID: 32461765 PMCID: PMC7243233 DOI: 10.1186/s13068-020-01732-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2020] [Accepted: 05/14/2020] [Indexed: 05/07/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The path for the development of hypersecreting strains of Trichoderma reesei capable of producing industrially relevant enzyme titers remains elusive despite over 70 years of research and industrial utilization. Herein, we describe the rational engineering of the publicly available T. reesei RUT-C30 strain and a customized process for cellulase production based on agroindustrial by-products. RESULTS A CRISPR/Cas9 system was used to introduce six genetic modifications in RUT-C30. Implemented changes included the constitutive expression of a mutated allele of the cellulase master regulator XYR1, the expression of two heterologous enzymes, the β-glucosidase CEL3A from Talaromyces emersonii and the invertase SUC1 from Aspergillus niger, and the deletion of genes encoding the cellulase repressor ACE1 and the extracellular proteases SLP1 and PEP1. These alterations resulted in a remarkable increase of protein secretion rates by RUT-C30 and amended its well described β-glucosidase deficiency while enabling the utilization of sucrose and eliminating the requirement of inducing sugars for enzyme production. With a developed sugarcane molasses-based bioprocess, the engineered strain reached an extracellular protein titer of 80.6 g L-1 (0.24 g L-1 h-1), which is the highest experimentally supported titer so far reported for T. reesei. The produced enzyme cocktail displayed increased levels of cellulase and hemicellulase activities, with particularly large increments being observed for the specific activities of β-glucosidase (72-fold) and xylanase (42-fold). Notably, it also exhibited a saccharification efficiency similar to that of a commercially available cellulase preparation in the deconstruction of industrially pretreated sugarcane straw. CONCLUSION This work demonstrates the rational steps for the development of a cellulase hyperproducing strain from a well-characterized genetic background available in the public domain, the RUT-C30, associated with an industrially relevant bioprocess, paving new perspectives for Trichoderma research on cellulase production.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucas Miranda Fonseca
- Brazilian Biorenewables National Laboratory, Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials, Campinas, São Paulo 13083-100 Brazil
| | - Lucas Salera Parreiras
- Brazilian Biorenewables National Laboratory, Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials, Campinas, São Paulo 13083-100 Brazil
| | - Mario Tyago Murakami
- Brazilian Biorenewables National Laboratory, Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials, Campinas, São Paulo 13083-100 Brazil
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Zhang J, Chen Y, Wu C, Liu P, Wang W, Wei D. The transcription factor ACE3 controls cellulase activities and lactose metabolism via two additional regulators in the fungus Trichoderma reesei. J Biol Chem 2019; 294:18435-18450. [PMID: 31501242 PMCID: PMC6885621 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.ra119.008497] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2019] [Revised: 08/23/2019] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Fungi of the genus Trichoderma are a rich source of enzymes, such as cellulases and hemicellulases, that can degrade lignocellulosic biomass and are therefore of interest for biotechnological approaches seeking to optimize biofuel production. The essential transcription factor ACE3 is involved in cellulase production in Trichoderma reesei; however, the mechanism by which ACE3 regulates cellulase activities is unknown. Here, we discovered that the nominal ace3 sequence in the T. reesei genome available through the Joint Genome Institute is erroneously annotated. Moreover, we identified the complete ace3 sequence, the ACE3 Zn(II)2Cys6 domain, and the ACE3 DNA-binding sites containing a 5'-CGGAN(T/A)3-3' consensus. We found that in addition to its essential role in cellulase production, ace3 is required for lactose assimilation and metabolism in T. reesei Transcriptional profiling with RNA-Seq revealed that ace3 deletion down-regulates not only the bulk of the major cellulase, hemicellulase, and related transcription factor genes, but also reduces the expression of lactose metabolism-related genes. Additionally, we demonstrate that ACE3 binds the promoters of many cellulase genes, the cellulose response transporter gene crt1, and transcription factor-encoding genes, including xyr1 We also observed that XYR1 dimerizes to facilitate cellulase production and that ACE3 interacts with XYR1. Together, these findings uncover how two essential transcriptional activators mediate cellulase gene expression in T. reesei On the basis of these observations, we propose a model of how the interactions between ACE3, Crt1, and XYR1 control cellulase expression and lactose metabolism in T. reesei.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiajia Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, 130 Meilong Road, Shanghai 200237, China
| | - Yumeng Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, 130 Meilong Road, Shanghai 200237, China
| | - Chuan Wu
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, 130 Meilong Road, Shanghai 200237, China
| | - Pei Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, 130 Meilong Road, Shanghai 200237, China
| | - Wei Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, 130 Meilong Road, Shanghai 200237, China.
| | - Dongzhi Wei
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, 130 Meilong Road, Shanghai 200237, China.
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Lin L, Wang S, Li X, He Q, Benz JP, Tian C. STK-12 acts as a transcriptional brake to control the expression of cellulase-encoding genes in Neurospora crassa. PLoS Genet 2019; 15:e1008510. [PMID: 31765390 PMCID: PMC6901240 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1008510] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2019] [Revised: 12/09/2019] [Accepted: 11/05/2019] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Cellulolytic fungi have evolved a complex regulatory network to maintain the precise balance of nutrients required for growth and hydrolytic enzyme production. When fungi are exposed to cellulose, the transcript levels of cellulase genes rapidly increase and then decline. However, the mechanisms underlying this bell-shaped expression pattern are unclear. We systematically screened a protein kinase deletion set in the filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa to search for mutants exhibiting aberrant expression patterns of cellulase genes. We observed that the loss of stk-12 (NCU07378) caused a dramatic increase in cellulase production and an extended period of high transcript abundance of major cellulase genes. These results suggested that stk-12 plays a critical role as a brake to turn down the transcription of cellulase genes to repress the overexpression of hydrolytic enzymes and prevent energy wastage. Transcriptional profiling analyses revealed that cellulase gene expression levels were maintained at high levels for 56 h in the Δstk-12 mutant, compared to only 8 h in the wild-type (WT) strain. After growth on cellulose for 3 days, the transcript levels of cellulase genes in the Δstk-12 mutant were 3.3-fold over WT, and clr-2 (encoding a transcriptional activator) was up-regulated in Δstk-12 while res-1 and rca-1 (encoding two cellulase repressors) were down-regulated. Consequently, total cellulase production in the Δstk-12 mutant was 7-fold higher than in the WT. These results strongly suggest that stk-12 deletion results in dysregulation of the cellulase expression machinery. Further analyses showed that STK-12 directly targets IGO-1 to regulate cellulase production. The TORC1 pathway promoted cellulase production, at least partly, by inhibiting STK-12 function, and STK-12 and CRE-1 functioned in parallel pathways to repress cellulase gene expression. Our results clarify how cellulase genes are repressed at the transcriptional level during cellulose induction, and highlight a new strategy to improve industrial fungal strains.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liangcai Lin
- Key Laboratory of Systems Microbial Biotechnology, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin, China
| | - Shanshan Wang
- Key Laboratory of Systems Microbial Biotechnology, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin, China
| | - Xiaolin Li
- Key Laboratory of Systems Microbial Biotechnology, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin, China
- State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology and MOA Key Laboratory of Soil Microbiology, College of Biological Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
| | - Qun He
- State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology and MOA Key Laboratory of Soil Microbiology, College of Biological Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
| | - J. Philipp Benz
- Technical University of Munich, TUM School of Life Sciences Weihenstephan, Hans-Carl-von-Carlowitz-Platz, Freising, Germany
- Technical University of Munich, Institute for Advanced Study, Lichtenbergstr, Garching, Germany
| | - Chaoguang Tian
- Key Laboratory of Systems Microbial Biotechnology, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin, China
- * E-mail:
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Wang F, Zhang R, Han L, Guo W, Du Z, Niu K, Liu Y, Jia C, Fang X. Use of fusion transcription factors to reprogram cellulase transcription and enable efficient cellulase production in Trichoderma reesei. BIOTECHNOLOGY FOR BIOFUELS 2019; 12:244. [PMID: 31636703 PMCID: PMC6792246 DOI: 10.1186/s13068-019-1589-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2019] [Accepted: 10/09/2019] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Trichoderma reesei is widely used for cellulase production and accepted as an example for cellulase research. Cre1-mediated carbon catabolite repression (CCR) can significantly inhibit the transcription of cellulase genes during cellulase fermentation in T. reesei. Early efforts have been undertaken to modify Cre1 for the release of CCR; however, this approach leads to arrested hyphal growth and decreased biomass accumulation, which negatively affects cellulase production. RESULTS In this study, novel fusion transcription factors (fTFs) were designed to release or attenuate CCR inhibition in cellulase transcription, while Cre1 was left intact to maintain normal hyphal growth. Four designed fTFs were introduced into the T. reesei genome, which generated several transformants, named Kuace3, Kuclr2, Kuace2, and Kuxyr1. No obvious differences in growth were observed between the parent and transformant strains. However, the transcription levels of cel7a, a major cellulase gene, were significantly elevated in all the transformants, particularly in Kuace2 and Kuxyr1, when grown on lactose as a carbon source. This suggested that CCR inhibition was released or attenuated in the transformant strains. The growth of Kuace2 and Kuxyr1 was approximately equivalent to that of the parent strain in fed-batch fermentation process. However, we observed a 3.2- and 2.1-fold increase in the pNPCase titers of the Kuace2 and Kuxyr1 strains, respectively, compared with that of the parent strain. Moreover, we observed a 6.1- and 3.9-fold increase in the pNPCase titers of the Kuace2 and Kuxyr1 strains, respectively, compared with that of Δcre1 strain. CONCLUSIONS A new strategy based on fTFs was successfully established in T. reesei to improve cellulase titers without impairing fungal growth. This study will be valuable for lignocellulosic biorefining and for guiding the development of engineering strategies for producing other important biochemical compounds in fungal species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fangzhong Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237 China
- Center for Biosafety Research and Strategy, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong China
| | - Ruiqin Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237 China
| | - Lijuan Han
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237 China
| | - Wei Guo
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237 China
| | - Zhiqiang Du
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237 China
| | - Kangle Niu
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237 China
| | - Yucui Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237 China
| | - Chunjiang Jia
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong China
| | - Xu Fang
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237 China
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Novy V, Nielsen F, Seiboth B, Nidetzky B. The influence of feedstock characteristics on enzyme production in Trichoderma reesei: a review on productivity, gene regulation and secretion profiles. BIOTECHNOLOGY FOR BIOFUELS 2019; 12:238. [PMID: 31624500 PMCID: PMC6781402 DOI: 10.1186/s13068-019-1571-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2019] [Accepted: 09/20/2019] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
Biorefineries, designed for the production of lignocellulose-based chemicals and fuels, are receiving increasing attention from the public, governments, and industries. A major obstacle for biorefineries to advance to commercial scale is the high cost of the enzymes required to derive the fermentable sugars from the feedstock used. As summarized in this review, techno-economic studies suggest co-localization and integration of enzyme manufacturing with the cellulosic biorefinery as the most promising alternative to alleviate this problem. Thus, cultivation of Trichoderma reesei, the principal producer of lignocellulolytic enzymes, on the lignocellulosic biomass processed on-site can reduce the cost of enzyme manufacturing. Further, due to a complex gene regulation machinery, the fungus can adjust the gene expression of the lignocellulolytic enzymes towards the characteristics of the feedstock, increasing the hydrolytic efficiency of the produced enzyme cocktail. Despite extensive research over decades, the underlying regulatory mechanisms are not fully elucidated. One aspect that has received relatively little attention in literature is the influence the characteristics of a lignocellulosic substrate, i.e., its chemical and physical composition, has on the produced enzyme mixture. Considering that the fungus is dependent on efficient enzymatic degradation of the lignocellulose for continuous supply of carbon and energy, a relationship between feedstock characteristics and secretome composition can be expected. The aim of this review was to systematically collect, appraise, and aggregate data and integrate results from studies analyzing enzyme production by T. reesei on insoluble cellulosic model substrates and lignocellulosic biomass. The results show that there is a direct effect of the substrate's complexity (rated by structure, composition of the lignin-carbohydrate complex, and recalcitrance in enzymatic saccharification) on enzyme titers and the composition of specific activities in the secretome. It further shows that process-related factors, such as substrate loading and cultivation set-up, are direct targets for increasing enzyme yields. The literature on transcriptome and secretome composition further supports the proposed influence of substrate-related factors on the expression of lignocellulolytic enzymes. This review provides insights into the interrelation between the characteristics of the substrate and the enzyme production by T. reesei, which may help to advance integrated enzyme manufacturing of substrate-specific enzymes cocktails at scale.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vera Novy
- Institute of Biotechnology and Biochemical Engineering, NAWI Graz, Graz University of Technology, Graz, Austria
- Present Address: Department of Wood Science, Faculty of Forestry, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Fredrik Nielsen
- Institute of Biotechnology and Biochemical Engineering, NAWI Graz, Graz University of Technology, Graz, Austria
- Present Address: Department of Wood Science, Faculty of Forestry, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Bernhard Seiboth
- Institute of Chemical, Environmental and Bioscience Engineering, Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria
- Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology (acib) GmbH, Graz, Austria
| | - Bernd Nidetzky
- Institute of Biotechnology and Biochemical Engineering, NAWI Graz, Graz University of Technology, Graz, Austria
- Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology (acib) GmbH, Graz, Austria
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Derntl C, Mach RL, Mach-Aigner AR. Fusion transcription factors for strong, constitutive expression of cellulases and xylanases in Trichoderma reesei. BIOTECHNOLOGY FOR BIOFUELS 2019; 12:231. [PMID: 31583017 PMCID: PMC6767844 DOI: 10.1186/s13068-019-1575-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2019] [Accepted: 09/22/2019] [Indexed: 05/07/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The filamentous ascomycete T. reesei is industrially used to produce cellulases and xylanases. Cost-effective production of cellulases is a bottleneck for biofuel production. Previously, different strain and process optimizations were deployed to enhance enzyme production rates. One approach is the overexpression of the main activator Xyr1 and a second is the construction of synthetic transcription factors. Notably, these genetic manipulations were introduced into strains bearing the wild-type xyr1 gene and locus. RESULTS Here, we constructed a Xyr1-deficient strain expressing a non-functional truncated version of Xyr1. This strain was successfully used as platform strain for overexpression of Xyr1, which enhanced the cellulase and xylanase production rates under inducing conditions, with the exception of lactose-there the cellulase production was severely reduced. Further, we introduced fusion transcription factors consisting of the DNA-binding domain of Xyr1 and the transactivation domain of either Ypr1 or Ypr2 (regulators of the sorbicillinoid biosynthesis gene cluster). The fusion of Xyr1 and Ypr2 yielded a moderately transactivating transcription factor, whereas the fusion of Xyr1 and Ypr1 yielded a highly transactivating transcription factor that induced xylanases and cellulases nearly carbon source independently. Especially, high production levels of xylanases were achieved on glycerol. CONCLUSION During this study, we constructed a Xyr1-deficient strain that can be fully reconstituted, which makes it an ideal platform strain for Xyr1-related studies. The mere overexpression of Xyr1 turned out not to be a successful strategy for overall enhancement of the enzyme production rates. We gained new insights into the regulatory properties of transcription factors by constructing respective fusion proteins. The Xyr1-Ypr1-fusion transcription factor could induce xylanase production rates on glycerol to outstanding extents, and hence could be deployed in the future to utilize crude glycerol, the main co-product of the biodiesel production process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian Derntl
- Institute of Chemical, Environmental and Bioscience Engineering, TU Wien, Gumpendorfer Strasse 1a, 1060 Vienna, Austria
| | - Robert L. Mach
- Institute of Chemical, Environmental and Bioscience Engineering, TU Wien, Gumpendorfer Strasse 1a, 1060 Vienna, Austria
| | - Astrid R. Mach-Aigner
- Institute of Chemical, Environmental and Bioscience Engineering, TU Wien, Gumpendorfer Strasse 1a, 1060 Vienna, Austria
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Alfiky A. Effects of ultraviolet irradiation on the in vitro antagonistic potential of Trichoderma spp. against soil-borne fungal pathogens. Heliyon 2019; 5:e02111. [PMID: 31372559 PMCID: PMC6656997 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e02111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2019] [Revised: 05/23/2019] [Accepted: 07/15/2019] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Development of new effective biocontrol agents is largely based on the antagonistic capacity of candidate agents against targeted pathogens in vitro. Different mechanisms contribute to such capacity, including the activity of cell wall-degrading enzymes, secretion of antimicrobial secondary metabolites, growth vigour and resistance to exogenous and endogenous toxins. In this study, a series of laboratory experiments were designed to improve the antagonistic activities of Trichoderma spp. against two plant fungal pathogens, Sclerotium rolfsii and Rhizoctonia solani. A simple but efficient mutagenesis programme was carried out using ultraviolet light to induce modifications in the genetic structure of two Trichoderma biocontrol agents, T. virens and T. asperellum. The obtained mutants were subjected to a) initial screening for media-permeable antifungal metabolites using the cellophane membrane-based method, and b) selected mutants were subjected to a series of antagonistic tests. Results revealed that the antagonistic potential of selected mutants was significantly improved against the two plant pathogens. Genetic stability test results indicated that the UV-derived mutant Tv3, maintained its elevated performance after 12 rounds of sub-culture. Gene expression analysis for five antagonism-associated genes were examined using real-Time PCR. Results revealed that the gene expression of two genes, chitinase 33, a cell wall degrading enzyme and, polyketide synthase, which is responsible for polyketide biosynthesis, a class of secondary metabolites with antimicrobial roles, were significantly upregulated in one of the mutated T. virens strains. Results of our in vitro antagonistic studies along with our molecular analysis indicate that the UV mutagenesis could be an effective strategy to improve Trichoderma antagonistic potential.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alsayed Alfiky
- Genetics Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Tanta University, Egypt
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Gao L, Li S, Xu Y, Xia C, Xu J, Liu J, Qin Y, Song X, Liu G, Qu Y. Mutation of a Conserved Alanine Residue in Transcription Factor AraR Leads to Hyperproduction of α‐l‐Arabinofuranosidases inPenicillium oxalicum. Biotechnol J 2019; 14:e1800643. [DOI: 10.1002/biot.201800643] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2018] [Revised: 12/20/2018] [Accepted: 01/02/2019] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Liwei Gao
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial TechnologyShandong University27 Binhai Road 266237 Qingdao China
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor EngineeringEast China University of Science and TechnologyShanghai China
| | - Shiying Li
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial TechnologyShandong University27 Binhai Road 266237 Qingdao China
| | - Yanning Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial TechnologyShandong University27 Binhai Road 266237 Qingdao China
| | - Chengqiang Xia
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial TechnologyShandong University27 Binhai Road 266237 Qingdao China
| | - Jiadi Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial TechnologyShandong University27 Binhai Road 266237 Qingdao China
- National Glycoengineering Research CenterShandong UniversityQingdao China
| | - Jun Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial TechnologyShandong University27 Binhai Road 266237 Qingdao China
| | - Yuqi Qin
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial TechnologyShandong University27 Binhai Road 266237 Qingdao China
- National Glycoengineering Research CenterShandong UniversityQingdao China
| | - Xin Song
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial TechnologyShandong University27 Binhai Road 266237 Qingdao China
| | - Guodong Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial TechnologyShandong University27 Binhai Road 266237 Qingdao China
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor EngineeringEast China University of Science and TechnologyShanghai China
| | - Yinbo Qu
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial TechnologyShandong University27 Binhai Road 266237 Qingdao China
- National Glycoengineering Research CenterShandong UniversityQingdao China
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Mutations in AraR leading to constitutive expression of arabinolytic genes in Aspergillus niger under derepressing conditions [corrected]. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2019; 103:4125-4136. [PMID: 30963207 PMCID: PMC6486530 DOI: 10.1007/s00253-019-09777-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2018] [Revised: 03/08/2019] [Accepted: 03/12/2019] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
The AraR transcription factor of Aspergillus niger encodes a Zn(II)2Cys6 transcription factor required for the induction of genes encoding arabinolytic enzymes. One of the target genes of AraR is abfA, encoding an arabinofuranosidase. The expression of abfA as well as other L-arabinose-induced genes in A. niger requires the presence of L-arabinose or its derivative L-arabitol as an inducer to activate AraR-dependant gene expression. In this study, mutants were isolated that express L-arabinose-induced genes independently of the presence of an inducer under derepressing conditions. To obtain these mutants, a reporter strain was constructed in a ΔcreA background containing the L-arabinose-responsive promoter (PabfA) fused to the acetamidase (amdS) gene. Spores of the ΔcreA PabfA-amdS reporter strain were UV-mutagenized and mutants were obtained by their ability to grow on acetamide without the presence of inducer. From a total of 164 mutants, 15 mutants were identified to contain transacting mutations resulting in high arabinofuranosidase activity in the medium after growth under non-inducing conditions. Sequencing of the araR gene of the 15 constitutive mutants revealed that 14 mutants carried a mutation in AraR. Some mutations were found more than once and in total nine different point mutations were identified in AraR. The AraRN806I point mutation was reintroduced into a parental strain and confirmed that this point mutation leads to inducer-independent expression of AraR target genes. The inducer independent of L-arabinose-induced genes in the AraRN806I mutant was found to be sensitive to carbon catabolite repression, indicating that the CreA-mediated carbon catabolite repression is dominant over the AraRN806I mutant allele. These mutations in AraR provide new opportunities to improve arabinase production in industrial fungal strains.
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Xia C, Li Z, Xu Y, Yang P, Gao L, Yan Q, Li S, Wang Y, Qu Y, Song X. Introduction of heterologous transcription factors and their target genes into Penicillium oxalicum leads to increased lignocellulolytic enzyme production. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2019; 103:2675-2687. [DOI: 10.1007/s00253-018-09612-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2018] [Revised: 12/18/2018] [Accepted: 12/28/2018] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
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Zhang F, Bunterngsook B, Li JX, Zhao XQ, Champreda V, Liu CG, Bai FW. Regulation and production of lignocellulolytic enzymes from Trichoderma reesei for biofuels production. ADVANCES IN BIOENERGY 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/bs.aibe.2019.03.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
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50
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Liu G, Qu Y. Engineering of filamentous fungi for efficient conversion of lignocellulose: Tools, recent advances and prospects. Biotechnol Adv 2018; 37:519-529. [PMID: 30576717 DOI: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2018.12.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2017] [Revised: 12/13/2018] [Accepted: 12/14/2018] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
Filamentous fungi, as the main producers of lignocellulolytic enzymes in industry, need to be engineered to improve the economy of large-scale lignocellulose conversion. Investigation of the cellular processes involved in lignocellulolytic enzyme production, as well as optimization of enzyme mixtures for higher hydrolysis efficiency, have provided effective targets for the engineering of lignocellulolytic fungi. Recently, the development of efficient genetic manipulation systems in several lignocellulolytic fungi opens up the possibility of systems engineering of these strains. Here, we review the recent progresses made in the engineering of lignocellulolytic fungi and highlight the research gaps in this area.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guodong Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao 266237, China; Shandong Key Laboratory of Water Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Qingdao 266237, China
| | - Yinbo Qu
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao 266237, China; National Glycoengineering Research Center, Shandong University, Qingdao 266237, China.
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