Establishment of High-Efficiency Screening System for Gene Deletion in Fusarium venenatum TB01

Screening and genetic engineering of marine-derived Aspergillus terreus for high-efficient production of lovastatin

BACKGROUND

Lovastatin has widespread applications thanks to its multiple pharmacological effects. Fermentation by filamentous fungi represents the major way of lovastatin production. However, the current lovastatin productivity by fungal fermentation is limited and needs to be improved.

RESULTS

In this study, the lovastatin-producing strains of Aspergillus terreus from marine environment were screened, and their lovastatin productions were further improved by genetic engineering. Five strains of A. terreus were isolated from various marine environments. Their secondary metabolites were profiled by metabolomics analysis using Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography-Mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS) with Global Natural Products Social Molecular Networking (GNPS), revealing that the production of secondary metabolites was variable among different strains. Remarkably, the strain of A. terreus MJ106 could principally biosynthesize the target drug lovastatin, which was confirmed by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and gene expression analysis. By one-factor experiment, lactose was found to be the best carbon source for A. terreus MJ106 to produce lovastatin. To improve the lovastatin titer in A. terreus MJ106, genetic engineering was applied to this strain. Firstly, a series of strong promoters was identified by transcriptomic and green fluorescent protein reporter analysis. Then, three selected strong promoters were used to overexpress the transcription factor gene lovE encoding the major transactivator for lov gene cluster expression. The results revealed that compared to A. terreus MJ106, all lovE over-expression mutants exhibited significantly more production of lovastatin and higher gene expression. One of them, LovE-b19, showed the highest lovastatin productivity at a titer of 1512 mg/L, which represents the highest production level reported in A. terreus.

CONCLUSION

Our data suggested that combination of strain screen and genetic engineering represents a powerful tool for improving the productivity of fungal secondary metabolites, which could be adopted for large-scale production of lovastatin in marine-derived A. terreus.

Efficient Mycoprotein Production with Low CO2 Emissions through Metabolic Engineering and Fermentation Optimization of Fusarium venenatum

The global protein shortage is intensifying, and promising means to ensure daily protein supply are desperately needed. The mycoprotein produced by Fusarium venenatum is a good alternative to animal/plant-derived protein. To comprehensively improve the mycoprotein synthesis, a stepwise strategy by blocking the byproduct ethanol synthesis and the gluconeogenesis pathway and by optimizing the fermentation medium was herein employed. Ultimately, compared to the wild-type strain, the synthesis rate, carbon conversion ratio, and protein content of mycoprotein produced from the engineered strain were increased by 57% (0.212 vs 0.135 g/L·h), 62% (0.351 vs 0.217 g/g), and 57% (61.9 vs 39.4%), respectively, accompanied by significant reductions in CO2 emissions. These results provide a referential strategy that could be useful for improving mycoprotein synthesis in other fungi; more importantly, the obtained high-mycoprotein-producing strain has the potential to promote the development of the edible protein industry and compensate for the gap in protein resources.

Strategies for the Development of Industrial Fungal Producing Strains

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.

Identification of neutral genome integration sites with high expression and high integration efficiency in Fusarium venenatum TB01

CRISPR/Cas9-mediated homology-directed recombination is an efficient method to express target genes. Based on the above method, providing ideal neutral integration sites can ensure the reliable, stable, and high expression of target genes. In this study, we obtained a fluorescent transformant with neutral integration and high expression of the GFP expression cassette from the constructed GFP expression library and named strain FS. The integration site mapped at 4886 bp upstream of the gene FVRRES_00686 was identified in strain FS based on a Y-shaped adaptor-dependent extension, and the sequence containing 600 bp upstream and downstream of this site was selected as the candidate region for designing sgRNAs (Sites) for CRISPR/Cas9-mediated homology-directed recombination. PCR analysis showed that the integration efficiency of CRISPR/Cas9-mediated integration of target genes in designed sites reached 100%. Further expression stability and applicability analysis revealed that the integration of the target gene into the above designed sites can be stably inherited and expressed and has no negative effect on the growth of F. venenatum TB01. These results indicate the above designed neutral sites have the potential to accelerate the development of F. venenatum TB01 through overexpression of target genes in metabolic engineering.