Glucose oxidase biosynthesis using immobilized mycelium of Aspergillus niger

A simple method is described for the immobilization of Aspergillus niger GIV-10 which produces an extracellular glucose oxidase. A. niger conidia were immobilized on sintered glass Raschig rings, pumice stones or polyurethane foam. Mycella growing out from the spores produced extracellular glucose oxidase: the highest production was with the pumice stone carrlers. This technique facilitates the growth of the filamentous cultures in the spongy structure of a support with continuous accumulation of biomass. After 24 to 36 h, a culture liquid with 2.7 to 3.1 U of glucose oxidase/ml was obtained. This procedure also made possible repeated batch enzyme production and as many as 25 subsequent 24-h batches could be fermented by using the same carrier with only a small loss of glucose oxidase activity.The authors are with the Institute of Microbiology, M. Curie-Sklodowska University, Akademicka 19, 20-003 Lublin, Poland.     

The chemical mechanism of action of glucose oxidase from Aspergillus niger

Glucose oxidase from Aspergillus niger (EC 1.1.3.4) is able to catalyze the oxidation of -D-glucose with p-benzoquinone, methyl-1,4-benzoquinone, 1,2-naphthoquinone, 1,2-naphthoquinone-4-sulfonic acid, potassium ferricyanide, phenazine methosulfate, and 2,6-dichloroindophenol. In this work, the steady-state kinetic parameters, V ₁/K _B , for reactions of these substrates were collected from pH 2.5–8. Further, the molecular models of the enzyme's active site were constructed for the free enzyme in the oxidized state, the complex of -D-glucose with the oxidized enzyme, the complex of reduced enzyme with methyl-1,4-benzoquinone, the reduced enzyme plus 1,2-naphthoquinone-4-sulfonic acid, oxidized enzyme plus reduced 1,2-naphthoquinone-4-sulfonic acid (hydroquinone anion), and oxidized enzyme plus fully reduced 1,2-naphthoquinone-4-sulfonic acid.Combining the steady-state kinetic and structural data, it was concluded that Glu412 bound to His559, in the active site of enzyme, modulates powerfully its catalytic activity by affecting all the rate constants in the reductive and the oxidative half-reaction of the catalytic cycle. His516 is the catalytic base in the oxidative and the reductive part of the catalytic cycle. It was estimated that the pK _a of Glu412 (bound to His559) in the free reduced enzyme is 3.4, and the pK _a of His516 in the free reduced enzyme is 6.9.     

The chemical mechanism of action of glucose oxidase from Aspergillus niger

Glucose oxidase from Aspergillus niger (EC 1.1.3.4) is able to catalyze the oxidation of beta-D-glucose with p-benzoquinone, methyl-1,4-benzoquinone, 1,2-naphthoquinone, 1,2-naphthoquinone-4-sulfonic acid, potassium ferricyanide, phenazine methosulfate, and 2,6-dichloroindophenol. In this work, the steady-state kinetic parameters, V1/K(B), for reactions of these substrates were collected from pH 2.5-8. Further, the molecular models of the enzyme's active site were constructed for the free enzyme in the oxidized state, the complex of beta-D-glucose with the oxidized enzyme, the complex of reduced enzyme with methyl-1,4-benzoquinone, the reduced enzyme plus 1,2-naphthoquinone-4-sulfonic acid, oxidized enzyme plus reduced 1,2-naphthoquinone-4-sulfonic acid (hydroquinone anion), and oxidized enzyme plus fully reduced 1,2-naphthoquinone-4-sulfonic acid. Combining the steady-state kinetic and structural data, it was concluded that Glu412 bound to His559, in the active site of enzyme, modulates powerfully its catalytic activity by affecting all the rate constants in the reductive and the oxidative half-reaction of the catalytic cycle. His516 is the catalytic base in the oxidative and the reductive part of the catalytic cycle. It was estimated that the pKa of Glu412 (bound to His559) in the free reduced enzyme is 3.4, and the pKa of His516 in the free reduced enzyme is 6.9.     

Aspergillus niger mutants with increased glucose oxidase production

Summary Aspergillus niger NRRL-3, an organism used for the industrial scale production of d-gluconic acid and glucose oxidase (EC 1.1.3.4), was subjected to mutagenesis and selection for acid production on diagnostic media containing methyl red. The plates contained 0.1 M d-glucose, a concentration that does not produce a color change in the medium surrounding mycelia of the parental strain under the conditions employed. Mutagenized spores yielded occasional colonies which were able to grow rapidly and were surrounded by a reddish zone. A number of such presumptive mutants were selected and isolated. Twenty-six such strains were grown in shaken cultures with liquid media containing 0.01, 0.1 or 0.5 M d-glucose, harvested, disrupted and the specific activity of d-glucose oxidase determined. Seven of the mutant strains had glucose oxidase specific activities markedly higher than the parental strain.Paper No. 8393, Nebraska Agricultural Research Division.     

Expression and overproduction of glucose oxidase in Aspergillus niger

Summary This report describes the expression of cloned glucose oxidase gene (god) in glucose-oxidase-deficient mutants (God^–) of Aspergillus niger NRRL-3, the use of this gene for the elevation of glucose oxidase (GOD) productivity in the parental strain, and the further improvement of GOD production by subjecting the transformants to nitrous acid mutagenesis.Correspondence to: F. A. Sharif     

Kinetics of glucose oxidase excretion by recombinant Aspergillus niger

The kinetics of glucose oxidase (GOD) excretion by recombinant Aspergillus niger NRRL-3 (GOD3-18) were investigated using enzymatic activity measurements as well as gel electrophoresis techniques. The majority of GOD was produced during rapid growth in the first phase of the cultivation. The high excretion rate during this phase did not prevent the endocellular accumulation of GOD up to 40% of the total soluble cell protein demonstrating that the production rate exceeded the excretion rate of the enzyme into the culture medium. During the second phase of the cultivation, excretion of GOD occurred at a slower rate, although the majority of GOD produced during the first phase was excreted during the second phase of the cultivation. At the end, about 90% of the total GOD produced was recovered from the culture medium. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis provided evidence that endo- and exocellular GOD were indistinguishable, revealing identical posttranslational modifications (e.g., signal sequence cleavage, glycosylation pattern). The results demonstrate that the initial steps of the secretory pathway are fast and that the excretion of the enzyme into the culture fluid was most likely delayed due to retention by the cell wall. (c) 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Location of glucose oxidase during production by Aspergillus niger

The production of the enzyme glucose oxidase by Aspergillus niger is well documented. However, its distribution within the fungal culture is less well defined. Since the enzyme location impacts significantly on enzyme recovery, this study quantifies the enzyme distribution between the extracellular fluid, cell wall, cytoplasm and slime mucilage fractions in an A. niger NRRL-3. The culture was separated into the individual fractions and the glucose oxidase activity was determined in each. The extracellular fluid contained 38% of the total activity. The remaining 62% was associated with the mycelia and was distributed between the cell wall, cytoplasm and slime mucilage in the proportions of 34, 12 and 16%, respectively. Intracellular cytoplasmic and cell wall sites were confirmed using immunocytochemical labelling of the mycelia. In the non-viable cell, the mycelial-associated enzyme was distributed between these sites, whereas in the viable cell, it was predominantly associated with the cell wall. The distribution of the enzyme activity indicates that recovery from the solids would result in a 38% loss, whereas recovery from the extracellular fluid would result in a 62% loss. The results also suggest, however, that this 62% loss could be reduced to around 34% by disintegrating the solids prior to separation due to the contribution of the enzyme in the cytoplasm and slime mucilage. This was confirmed by independently establishing the percentage activity in the liquid and solid portions of a disintegrated culture as 62 and 38%, respectively.     

Optimization of an Aspergillus niger glucose oxidase production process

The purpose of the present study was to ascertain the optimal concentration of dissolved oxygen in order to maximize the intracellular glucose oxidase formation in Aspergillus niger. Cultivations performed in a 3.5 l laboratory reactor showed that a dissolved oxygen concentration at 3% of saturation at a total pressure of 1.2 bar was optimal for maximizing intracellular glucose oxidase activity. Cultivations performed at higher dissolved oxygen concentrations did not produce as much glucose oxidase as those performed at 3%, although the formation rate was high. Experiments revealed that maximal intracellular glucose oxidase formation for the A. niger strain used, is accomplished by limiting the gluconic acid production rate by means of maintaining a low dissolved oxygen concentration. Several attempts to achieve higher intracellular glucose oxidase activity were also made by manipulating the glucose concentration at a 3% dissolved oxygen concentration. However, no enhancement in glucose oxidase activity was observed.     

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction studies of a deglycosylated glucose oxidase from Aspergillus niger

Deglycosylation was shown to be an important prerequisite step for the crystallization of glucose oxidase from Aspergillus niger. Whereas the glycosylated enzyme could not be crystallized, crystals of the deglycosylated enzyme suitable for X-ray diffraction analysis were reproducibly grown in the presence of 1.6 M-ammonium sulphate and octanetriol at pH 5.3 to 5.6. The crystals belong to the space group P3(1)21 or P3(2)21 with refined lattice constants of a = 66.5 A and c = 214.4 A, indicating a cell content of one monomer per asymmetric unit of the crystal. Crystals diffract to at least 2.5 A resolution. Cleavage of 95% of its carbohydrate moiety affected the kinetics of glucose oxidation, stability at low pH and some electrophoretic properties of glucose oxidase, such as molecular mass and the number of isoelectric forms. However, other properties, such as thermal stability, pH and temperature optima of activity were not affected.     

15N- and 13C-NMR investigations of glucose oxidase from Aspergillus niger

The apoprotein of glucose oxidase from Aspergillus niger was reconstituted with specifically 15N- and 13C-enriched FAD derivatives and investigated by 15N- and 13C-NMR spectroscopy. On the basis of the 15N-NMR results it is suggested that, in the oxidized state of glucose oxidase, hydrogen bonds are formed to the N(3) and N(5) positions of the isoalloxazine system. The hydrogen bond to N(3) is more pronounced than that to N(5) as compared with the respective hydrogen bonds formed between FMN and water. The resonance position of N(10) indicates a small decrease in sp2 hybridization compared to free flavin in water. Apparently the isoalloxazine ring is not planar at this position in glucose oxidase. Additional hydrogen bonds at the carbonyl groups of the oxidized enzyme-bound FAD were derived from the 13C-NMR results. A strong downfield shift observed for the C(4a) resonance may be ascribed in part to the decrease in sp2 hybridization at the N(10) position and to the polarization of the carbonyl groups at C(2) and C(4). The polarization of the isoalloxazine ring in glucose oxidase is more similar to FMN in water than to that of tetraacetyl-riboflavin in apolar solvents. In the reduced enzyme the N(1) position is anionic at pH 5.6. The pKa is shifted to lower pH values by at least 1 owing to the interaction of the FAD with the apoprotein. As in the oxidized state of the enzyme, a hydrogen bond is also formed at the N(3) position of the reduced flavin. The N(5) and N(10) resonances of the enzyme-bound reduced FAD indicate a decrease in the sp2 character of these atoms as compared with that of reduced FMN in aqueous solution. Some of the 15N- and 13C-resonance positions of the enzyme-bound reduced cofactor are markedly pH-dependent. The pH dependence of the N(5) and C(10a) resonances indicates a decrease in sp2 hybridization of the N(5) atom with increasing pH of the enzyme solution.     

Novel oligomannose-type sugar chains derived from glucose oxidase of Aspergillus niger.

The primary structure of the N-linked sugar chains of glucose oxidase from Aspergillus niger was investigated. These sugar chains were released from the polypeptide backbone by hydrazinolysis, and the reducing ends of the sugar chains were pyridylaminated. HPLC of the pyridylamino sugar chains with an amide-silica column showed at least seven sugar chain peaks. Chemical and exoglycosidase digestion and 400 lMHz H-NMR studies of the sugar chains of lower molecular weight showed that these were novel oligomannose-type sugar chains, (Man)5-7 (GlcNAc)2, with the structure: +/- Man alpha 1----3Man alpha 1----3(Man alpha 1----6)Man alpha 1----6(+/- Man alpha 1----3Man alpha 1---3)Man )Man beta 1----4GlcNAc beta 1----4GlcNAc.     

Directed evolution of glucose oxidase from Aspergillus niger for ferrocenemethanol-mediated electron transfer

A directed evolution protocol was developed for glucose oxidase (GOx) from Aspergillus niger that mimics applications conditions and employs a well-known mediator, oxidized ferrocenemethanol, in a medium throughput screen (96-well plate format). Upon reduction, oxidized ferrocenemethanol shows a color change from blue to pale yellow that can be recorded at 625 nm. Under optimized screening conditions, a CV of less than 20% was achieved in 96-well microtiter plates. For validating the screening system, two mutant libraries of GOx were generated by standard error-prone PCR conditions (0.04 mM MnCl(2)) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae was employed as host for secreted GOx expression. Two screening of approximately 2000 GOx mutants yielded a double mutant (T30S I94V) with improved pH and thermal resistance. Thermal resistance at a residual activity of 50% was increased from 58 degrees C (wild type, WT) to 62 degrees C (T30S I94V) and pH stability was improved at basic pH (pH 8-11). K(m) for glucose remained nearly unchanged (20.8 mM WT; 21.3 mM T30S I94V) and k(cat) increased (69.5/s WT; 137.7/s T30S I94V).