Transformation of Aspergillus niger with the homologous nitrate reductase gene

A homologous transformation for Aspergillus niger was developed based on the nitrate reductase structural gene niaD. This system offered certain advantages over existing A. niger systems, such as the ease of recipient mutant isolation, absence of abortive transformants, convenient enzyme assay, ease of transformant stability testing, and complete absence of background growth. Transformation frequencies of up to 100 transformants per microgram DNA were obtained with the vector pSTA10 which carries the niaD gene of A. niger. Southern blotting analysis indicated that vector DNA had integrated into the genome of A. niger. Mitotic stability studies demonstrated that while some transformants were as stable as the wild-type (wt), others were markedly less so. No correlation was seen between plasmid integration, mitotic stability and nitrate reductase activity, which was markedly different from wt in only three of the transformants examined.     

Isolation and characterization of the Aspergillus niger trpC gene

The Aspergillus niger trpC gene was isolated by complementation experiments with an Escherichia coli trpC mutant. Plasmid DNA containing the A. niger trpC gene transforms an Aspergillus nidulans mutant strain, defective in all three enzymatic activities of the trpC gene, to Trp+, indicating the presence of a complete and functional trpC gene. Southern blot analysis of DNA from these Trp+ transformants showed that plasmid DNA was present but that this DNA was not integrated at the site of the chromosomal trpC locus. The A. niger trpC gene was localized on the cloned fragment by heterologous hybridization experiments and sequence analysis. These experiments suggest that the organization of the A. niger trpC gene is identical to that of the analogous A. nidulans trpC and the Neurospora crassa trp-1 genes.     

Transformation of Aspergillus alliaceus using the Aspergillus niger niaD gene encoding nitrate reductase

Abstract A heterologous transformation system for Aspergillus alliaceus based on the Aspergillus niger nitrate reductase structural gene ( niaD ) has been developed. Two mutants of A. alliaceus (M3 and M17), each carrying an niaD mutation were isolated by screening UV-irradiated cells for the inability to grow on nitrate as sole nitrogen source. Using plasmid pSTA 10, transformation frequencies of 4 and 200 per μg DNA respectively were obtained for these two strains. All the niaD ⁺ transformants tested were mitotically stable. Southern hybridisation analyses showed that the vector DNA sequences were present.     

Cloning and use of sC as homologous marker for Aspergillus niger transformation

The sC sequence from Aspergillus niger was cloned and developed into a homologous marker system for genetic transformation. The coding region of the sC gene amplified by PCR from the A. niger genome was provided with Aspergillus nidulans expression signals (gpdA promoter and trpC terminator). This chimeric construct was used to successfully transform a spontaneous sC- isolate of A. niger to prototrophy. The transformants analyzed by Southern analysis showed integration of multiple copies of the transforming DNA. They also exhibited much higher ATP sulfurylase activity than the wild-type A. niger strain reinforcing the molecular data. This demonstrates the usefulness of the sCniger construct, driven by PgpdA, as a marker for A. niger transformation.     

Transformation of Aspergillus niger by the amdS gene of Aspergillus nidulans.

Aspergillus niger grows poorly on acetamide as a nitrogen or carbon source and lacks sequences detectably homologous to the amdS gene encoding the acetamidase of Aspergillus nidulans. We have taken advantage of these observations to develop a transformation system for A. niger using the amdS gene as a dominant heterologous marker for selecting transformants on the basis of acetamide utilization. Transformants varied in their ability to grow on amide media and the number of integrated copies of the amdS plasmid ranged from 1 or 2 to greater than 100. Southern analysis of transformants revealed that the multiple copies were integrated into the chromosome in tandem arrays. This result indicates that transformation of A. niger is more similar to mammalian cells than to yeast. Analysis of enzyme activity levels and RNA levels showed that most of the copies of amdS were expressed. Mitotic stabilities of transformants were found to be high. A transformant containing greater than 100 copies of the amdS gene was impaired in omega-amino acid utilization, a result that has also been found in A. nidulans. Since, in A. nidulans, omega-amino acids induce acetamidase via a characterizied regulatory gene (amdR/intA) this observation implies that titration of an analogous A. niger regulatory gene product by multiple amdS copies has occurred. Additional evidence suggested that the amdS gene is regulated in A. niger. It has also been shown that an unselected plasmid can be co-transformed with the amdS plasmid into A. niger.     

The polygalacturonases of Aspergillus niger are encoded by a family of diverged genes.

Aspergillus niger produces several polygalacturonases that, with other enzymes, are involved in the degradation of pectin. One of the two previously characterized genes coding for the abundant polygalacturonases I and II (PGI and PGII) found in a commercial pectinase preparation was used as a probe to isolate five more genes by screening a genomic DNA library in phage lambda EMBL4 using conditions of moderate stringency. The products of these genes were detected in the culture medium of Aspergillus nidulans transformants on the basis of activity measurements and Western-blot analysis using a polyclonal antibody raised against PGI. These transformants were, with one exception, constructed using phage DNA. A. nidulans transformants secreted high amounts of PGI and PGII in comparison to the previously characterized A. niger transformants and a novel polygalacturonase (PGC) was produced at high levels by A. nidulans transformed with the subcloned pgaC gene. This gene was sequenced and the protein-coding region was found to be interrupted by three introns; the different intron/exon organization of the three sequenced A. niger polygalacturonase genes can be explained by the gain or loss of two single introns. The pgaC gene encodes a putative 383-amino-acid prepro-protein that is cleaved after a pair of basic amino acids and shows approximately 60% amino acid sequence similarity to the other polygalacturonases in the mature protein. The N-terminal amino acid sequences of the A. niger polygalacturonases display characteristic amino acid insertions or deletions that are also observed in polygalacturonases of phytopathogenic fungi. In the upstream regions of the A. niger polygalacturonase genes, a sequence of ten conserved nucleotides comprising a CCAAT sequence was found, which is likely to represent a binding site for a regulatory protein as it shows a high similarity to the yeast CYC1 upstream activation site recognized by the HAP2/3/4 activation complex.     

Development of a homologous transformation system for Aspergillus niger based on the pyrG gene

Summary The development of a homologous transformation system for Aspergillus niger is described. The system is based on the use of an orotidine-5-phosphate decarboxylase deficient mutant (pyrG) and a vector, pAB4-1, which contains the functional A. niger pyrG gene as a selection marker. Transformation of the A. niger pyrG mutant with pAB4-1 resulted in the appearance of stable Pyr⁺ transformants at a frequency of 40 transformants per g of DNA. In 90% of these transformants integration had occurred at the resident pyrG locus, resulting either in replacement of the mutant allele by the wild-type allele (60%) or in insertion of one or two copies of the vector (40%). The A. niger pyrG mutant could also be transformed with the vector pDJB2 containing the pyr4 gene of Neurospora crassa, at a frequency of 2 transformants per g of DNA. Integration at the resident pyrG locus was not found with this vector. The vector pAB4-1 is also capable of transforming an Aspergillus nidulans pyrG mutant to Pyr⁺. The pyrG transformation system was used for the introduction of a non-selectable gene into A. niger.     

根癌农杆菌介导的黑曲霉遗传转化体系的建立及优化

基于根癌农杆菌介导的遗传转化方法的独特优点,研究黑曲霉转化过程中各主要影响因素,建立高效的黑曲霉遗传转化方法。构建双元载体pBI-hph,通过电转导入农杆菌LBA4404中,以黑曲霉TCCC41056为受体菌株,利用潮霉素B基因作为筛选标记,对影响转化效率的孢子悬液的新鲜程度及浓度、农杆菌菌液浓度、共培养时间、共培养温度这五个条件进行分析,建立根癌农杆菌介导的黑曲霉遗传转化体系。实验结果表明,上述条件对黑曲霉的转化效率有较大的影响,通过优化,黑曲霉转化效率可达83个转化子/10⁷分生孢子;整合到黑曲霉基因组的外源基因可以稳定遗传,在转接10代后遗传性能仍保持稳定,并在众多转化子中筛选得到了糖化酶活力提高18%的黑曲霉突变株。根癌农杆菌介导的黑曲霉转化体系的建立,为进一步研究黑曲霉的功能基因以及开发黑曲霉表达系统提供了有力的手段。     

Isolation of an Aspergillus terreus mutant impaired in arginine biosynthesis and its complementation with the argB gene from Aspergillus nidulans

Using filtration enrichment techniques, an Aspergillus terreus arginine auxotrophic strain which contains a mutation that abolishes ornithine transcarbamylase (OTCase) activity has been isolated. This mutant has been genetically transformed with the cloned Aspergillus nidulans OTCase gene. Prototrophic transformants arose at a frequency of about 50 transformants per microgram of plasmid DNA. Southern blot analysis of DNA from the transformants showed that the transforming DNA was ectopically integrated at different locations in the A. terreus genome, often in multiple tandem copies. The transformants were phenotypically stable for several mitotic divisions and retained their capacity to produce extracellular enzymes.     

Transformation of Aspergillus based on the hygromycin B resistance marker from Escherichia coli

A new, heterologous, dominant marker for selection of Aspergillus transformants is described. This marker is based on the Escherichia coli hygromycin B (HmB) phosphotransferase gene (hph). Expression of the hph gene is controlled by A. nidulans gpd and trpC expression signals. An Aspergillus transformation vector was constructed which contains this marker and confers HmB resistance to Aspergillus species. With both A. niger and A. nidulans, transformation frequencies of 5-20 transformants per micrograms vector DNA were obtained. Cotransformation with other vectors was shown to be very efficient in both species, when selection for HmB resistance was applied.     

农杆菌介导转化黑曲霉分生孢子及产孢缺陷突变子T-DNA插入位点分析

【目的】利用农杆菌(Agrobacterium tumefaciens)T-DNA系统,建立转化黑曲霉(Aspergillus niger)分生孢子的方法,构建T-DNA插入突变子文库,为黑曲霉基因组功能注释研究打下基础。【方法】采用携带二元质粒载体pCAMBIA1301的农杆菌EHA105,诱导转化黑曲霉分生孢子,筛选具有潮霉素抗性的突变子。分析抗性稳定突变子菌株的表型,采用反向PCR方法分析T-DNA插入位点相邻位置的序列,并推测突变基因可能具有的功能。【结果】实验获得具有稳定潮霉素抗性转化子193株,转化率为5.6×102转化子/108分生孢子。部分转化子表型出现较为明显改变,其中一株不能产孢,对其T-DNA插入位点序列分析比对结果显示,突变基因属于超级转运家族(major facilitator superfamily,MFS)。【结论】本研究建立的农杆菌转化黑曲霉分生孢子平台,结合T-DNA插入突变位点分析,可以为黑曲霉基因组功能注释研究提供一种简便有效的途径。     

Expression of Aspergillus hemoglobin domain activities in Aspergillus oryzae grown on solid substrates improves growth rate and enzyme production

DNA fragments coding for hemoglobin domains (HBD) were isolated from Aspergillus oryzae and Aspergillus niger. The HBD activities were expressed in A. oryzae by introduction of HBD gene fragments under the control of the promoter of the constitutively expressed gpdA gene. In the transformants, oxygen uptake was significantly higher, and during growth on solid substrates the developed biomass was at least 1.3 times higher than that of the untransformed wild-type strain. Growth rate of the HBD-activity-producing strains was also significantly higher compared to the wild type. During growth on solid cereal substrates, the amylase and protease activities in the extracts of the HBD-activity-producing strains were 30-150% higher and glucoamylase activities were at least 9 times higher compared to the wild-type strain. These results suggest that the Aspergillus HBD-encoding gene can be used in a self-cloning strategy to improve biomass yield and protein production of Aspergillus species.     

黑曲霉pepB基因缺失菌株的构建及其功能分析

以黑曲霉(Aspergillus niger)GICC2773基因组DNA为模板,用PCR方法分别扩增pepB基因中的上游约1．4kb和下游约1．3kb两段DNA序列,将此两段序列按同一方向分别插入质粒pMW1中潮霉素抗性基因(hph)表达单元的5′和3′端,构建成重组质粒pMW1-pepB,用于通过同源重组靶向破坏基因组中的pepB基因。同源重组则采用原生质体-PEG方法,将酶切pMW1-pepB得到的线性片段转化A．niger GICC2773菌株,通过潮霉素选择平板得到62个Hgy抗性转化子,然后采用PCR方法从这些抗性转化子中筛选到1个由于同源重组产生的pepB基因缺失突变菌株pepB29。功能分析显示该突变株的酸性蛋白酶活性有明显下降,外源蛋白漆酶的分泌表达有所提高。     

Transformation of Aspergillus nidulans by the argB gene

Aspergillus nidulans argB mutant was transformed with the plasmid DNA containing the argB gene. Analysis of transformants revealed that transformation was due to integration of either argB gene alone or the whole plasmid DNA into the A. nidulans genome. In 5 out of 23 transformants studied, integration took place in the locus different than the original argB locus. The amplification of integrated sequences was often observed. Integrated DNA was found to be mitotically stable, while the meiotic stability depends on the mode of integration. The activity of the ornithine carbamoyltransferase (the argB gene product) was measured and in some transformants bearing the amplified argB sequence was found to be strongly elevated.     

Overproduction of alpha-glucosidase in Aspergillus niger transformed with the cloned gene aglA

We have transformed an industrial strain, Aspergillus niger GN-3, with the alpha-glucosidase gene (aglA) from the same strain. Southern hybridization analysis revealed that transformants had multiple copies of the cloned DNA inserted into the host genome. An 11-fold improvement of enzyme production was achieved by transformation with a DNA fragment composed of 1.11 kb of the 5' noncoding region, 3.12 kb of the coding region containing three introns, and 1.2 kb of the 3' noncoding region. It was found that the 3' noncoding region (1.2 kb) was preferable for maximum production of the enzyme in the transformant.     

Cloning and characterization of two rhamnogalacturonan hydrolase genes from Aspergillus niger.

A rhamnogalacturonan hydrolase gene of Aspergillus aculeatus was used as a probe for the cloning of two rhamnogalacturonan hydrolase genes of Aspergillus niger. The corresponding proteins, rhamnogalacturonan hydrolases A and B, are 78 and 72% identical, respectively, with the A. aculeatus enzyme. In A. niger cultures which were shifted from growth on sucrose to growth on apple pectin as a carbon source, the expression of the rhamnogalacturonan hydrolase A gene (rhgA) was transiently induced after 3 h of growth on apple pectin. The rhamnogalacturonan hydrolase B gene was not induced by apple pectin, but the rhgB gene was derepressed after 18 h of growth on either apple pectin or sucrose. Gene fusions of the A. niger rhgA and rhgB coding regions with the strong and inducible Aspergillus awamori exlA promoter were used to obtain high-producing A. awamori transformants which were then used for the purification of the two A. niger rhamnogalacturonan hydrolases. High-performance anion-exchange chromatography of oligomeric degradation products showed that optimal degradation of an isolated highly branched pectin fraction by A. niger rhamnogalacturonan hydrolases A and B occurred at pH 3.6 and 4.1, respectively. The specific activities of rhamnogalacturonan hydrolases A and B were then 0.9 and 0.4 U/mg, respectively, which is significantly lower than the specific activity of A. aculeatus rhamnogalacturonan hydrolase (2.5 U/mg at an optimal pH of 4.5). Compared to the A enzymes, the A. niger B enzyme appears to have a different substrate specificity, since additional oligomers are formed.     

Characterization and expression of a genomic pectin methyl esterase-encoding gene in Aspergillus niger

The genomic pectin methylesterase (PME)-encoding gene (pmeA) from Aspergillus niger strain RH5344 was cloned by probing a genomic DNA library with a cDNA coding for PME. The recombinant phage clone was isolated and a 6-kb HindIII fragment was subcloned and characterized. The gene consists of seven exons and six introns. The nucleotide sequences of the coding regions were identical to those found in the pmeA cDNA. Cotransformation of A. niger was achieved with the vector, pAN7-1, and transformants were then tested for PME production. Transformants which produced more PME than the untransformed recipient strain were subjected to Southern-blot and Northern-blot analysis. The results show that there is a reasonable correlation between gene copy number, mRNA levels and PME production. PME was produced by A. niger transformants in an active 43-kDa form, which is similar to that of the mature protein isolated from the strain, RH5344. On the basis of the results of affinity labeling of PME with sugar-specific lectins and the amino acid sequence data, it has been revealed that PME is a glycoprotein and the protein-bound glycans are oligosaccharides with a high mannose content.     

Integrative Transformation of Aspergillus oryzae with a Plasmid Containing the Aspergillus nidulans argB Gene

The transformation of Aspergillus oryzae has been achieved with a plasmid carrying the Aspergillus nidulans argB gene coding for ornithine carbamoyltransferase (OCTase). The frequency of transformation was relatively low (0.7 transformants/μg DNA) but the transformed phenotype was extremely stable for many generations without selective pressure.

Southern blot analysis revealed that transformation had occurred by integration of multiple tandem copies of plasmid DNA into the host genome through non-homologous recombination. There was no evidence of the existence of free plasmid in the transformants. The number of integrated copies of the plasmid ranged from 15 to 60. The specific activity of OCTase in the cell- free extract was proportional to the copy number of the plasmid, indicating that most of the integrated argB gene was expressed.     

An amdS-lacZ fusion for studying gene regulation in Aspergillus

A translational fusion has been constructed between the amdS gene of Aspergillus nidulans and the lacZ gene of Escherichia coli. Sequencing across the fusion junction confirmed the generation of an in-frame fusion at amino acid 34 of amdS and a novel protein has been detected in transformants carrying the fusion plasmid. Transformants of A. nidulans and Aspergillus niger carrying the fusion plasmid were obtained by co-transformation with a second selectable plasmid. These transformants were readily identified on media containing XGal. The intensity of the reaction on XGal media was indicative of the number of copies of the fusion plasmid carried by the transformants. The growth of highly expressing strains of A. nidulans was inhibited on XGal media. The fusion plasmid was used to develop a two-step gene replacement strategy in which the resident amdS gene was replaced with the fusion gene free of vector sequences. Plate tests and in vitro assays of the beta-galactosidase enzyme confirmed that expression of the fusion gene was regulated by amdS flanking sequences and trans-acting regulatory genes.