Invertase Production by Penicillium chrysogenum and Other Fungi in Submerged Fermentation

A study was made of Penicillium chrysogenum and some other fungi to determine the relative distribution of intra- and extracellular invertase produced by them in submerged fermentation. The proportion of each type of enzyme varied with the organism and the period of fermentation. More of the enzyme initially bound to the mycelium was released into the medium with the progress of fermentation. Differences were observed in the effects of cultural conditions on enzyme production in P. chrysogenum and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Considerably greater quantities of enzyme were produced by P. chrysogenum and the yeast in both laboratory and large-scale fermentors when sucrose was added continuously than when the same quantities of the sugar were added initially.     

Comparison of methods to detect resistance of Penicillium expansum to thiabendazole

Aims:  Because of the lack of a standard method, the aim of this work is to evaluate the suitability of the broth microdilution method CLSI M38-A in determining the resistance level of some Penicillium expansum isolates to thiabendazole (TBZ). The ability of the isolates to produce patulin (PAT) and citrinin (CIT) has been also assessed.
Methods and Results:  Penicillium expansum isolates (128) were assayed (apples, pears, grapes and five reference strains). It was observed that 69·4% of the strains isolated from apples and pears were resistant to TBZ. Sensitive isolates were inhibited at 0·25–0·5 μg ml⁻¹ whilst resistant isolates still grew at 512 μg ml⁻¹. PAT was produced by all P. expansum isolates. CIT was detected in 98·8% of TBZ-resistant isolates and in 89·1% of the TBZ-sensitive isolates.
Conclusions:  The preliminary screening method combined with the adaptation of the method CLSI M38-A, can be a good strategy to be used in assessing the in vitro activity of TBZ against a large number of isolates.
Significance and Impact of the Study:  The proposed methodology can be a contribution to the standardization of susceptibility tests to fungicides against P. expansum.     

Production of Patulin by Penicillium expansum

Twenty-seven isolates of Penicillium expansum Lk. ex Thom obtained from Europe, Australia, and North America from seven different fruit hosts all produced patulin in culture. Six isolates were essentially nonpathogenic in apple fruits. In culture, patulin generally accumulated to much higher levels than in apple fruits. At all temperatures permitting fungus growth, patulin was produced. However, only small amounts were observed near the maximal temperature for growth (30 C). At 0 C, patulin accumulated but slowly in culture. Modified atmospheres suppressed both fungus growth and patulin accumulation in apples. After varying incubation periods to obtain similar total growth, the patulin concentration was low in modified atmospheres and high in air.     

Molecular characterization of Penicillium expansum MUCL mutants

The modern biomolecular analysis of DNA was carried out to determine the identity of Penicillium expansum MUCL V1-V9 Variants with parental strain of Penicillium expansum MUCL 29412 and to compare the results with Penicillium verrucosum, a related species. The extracted DNAs were fragmented by digestion with restriction endonuclease Hind III and the fragments were separated by agarose gel electrophoresis. The DNAs were then denaturated in the gel after partial depurination with dilute acid and were transferred to a nylon membrane. The membrane was incubated with 32P-labeled probe, which was a DNA having a base sequence complementary to the DNA that was to be detected on the filter. The hybridization of the restriction fragments was performed for a highly qualitative comparison of the digested fragments. The analysis of the DNA profile, the most important stage in DNA identity testing, confirms the identity of the DNA for all strains of Penicillium expansum MUCL, except for V5 Variant.     

Statistical Optimization of Alkaline Protease Production from Penicillium citrinum YL-1 Under Solid-State Fermentation

Proteases from halotolerant and halophilic microorganisms were found in traditional Chinese fish sauce. In this study, 30 fungi were isolated from fermented fish sauce in five growth media based on their morphology. However, only one strain, YL-1, which was identified as Penicillium citrinum by internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequence analysis, can produce alkaline protease. This study is the first to report that a protease-producing fungus strain was isolated and identified in traditional Chinese fish sauce. Furthermore, the culture conditions of alkaline protease production by P. citrinum YL-1 in solid-state fermentation were optimized by response surface methodology. First, three variables including peptone, initial pH, and moisture content were selected by Plackett–Burman design as the significant variables for alkaline protease production. The Box–Behnken design was then adopted to further investigate the interaction effects between the three variables on alkaline protease production and determine the optimal values of the variables. The maximal production (94.30 U/mL) of alkaline protease by P. citrinum YL-1 took place under the optimal conditions of peptone, initial pH, and moisture content (v/w) of 35.5 g/L, 7.73, and 136%, respectively.     

扩展青霉脂肪酶ep8与R182K叠加突变体的构建

利用重叠延伸PCR法对扩展青霉碱性脂肪酶(PEL)基因进行体外定点突变,并将含突变基因的重组质粒pAO815-ep8-R182K在毕赤酵母(Pichiapastoris)GS115中进行表达。叠加突变体PEL-ep8-R182K表达产物与野生型PEL、PEL-ep8比较实验表明:叠加突变体表达蛋白PEL-ep8-R182K最适反应温度与野生型PEL、PEL-ep8一致,均为40℃;热稳定性与野生型相似,比PEL-ep8降低2.25℃。但是,在比活上,PEL-ep8-R182K与PEL-ep8、野生型PEL相比,其比酶活分别提高了14.03%和3.86%。     

Purification and preliminary crystallographic analysis of a Penicillium expansum lipase

PF898 is a strain of Penicillium expansum optimized for the high level production of Penicillium expansum lipase (PEL). This PEL is unique compared with other lipases in several aspects, For example, the PEL shows low sequence identities (<30%) to all other known lipases, and high percentage of hydrophobic residues in the N-terminal region. The PEL was purified to homogeneity and shown to be 28 kDa by SDS-PAGE. Crystals suitable for X-ray diffraction analysis were obtained by the sitting-drop method of vapor diffusion with ammonia sulfate as the precipitating agent at 298 K. The crystals have tetragonal lattice and unit-cell parameters of a=b=88.09 A, c=126.54 A. Diffraction data were collected to a resolution of 2.08 A on an in-house rotating-anode generator.     

Partial purification and properties of pectin lyase from Penicillium expansum

A pectin lyase, poly(methoxygalacturonide) lyase, EC 4.2.2.10, from a culture filtrate of Penicillium expansum was partially purified 33-fold with 7.3% yield. The enzyme was monomeric with a molecular mass of 36.5 kDa. The enzyme did not contain pectate lyase activity and degraded citrus and apple pectin best at pH 7.0 and 40 to 45°C. The K _m for citrus pectin was 9 mg ml^-1.     

海洋扩展青霉（Penicillium expansum）果胶酶的纯化及酶学性质研究

通过超滤、DEAE Sephadex A-50离子交换层析、Sephadex G-100凝胶过滤层析,对一株来自海洋的扩展青霉(Penicillium expansum)所产果胶酶进行分离纯化,得到电泳纯的果胶酶,经SDS-PAGE电泳显示单一条带,且果胶酶亚基的分子质量约为63.96 ku,纯化倍数为24.13,回收率为36.32%。酶学性质研究结果表明,该果胶酶的最适反应温度为50℃,最适p H值5.4,在p H值4.6~6.2比较稳定,Mg2+、Ca2+对果胶酶活力有明显激活作用,Cu2+有明显抑制作用,以果胶粉为底物的Vmax为393.56μg/(min·m L),Km为3.34 mg/m L。     

Penicillium expansum lipase-catalyzed production of biodiesel in ionic liquids

Penicillium expansum lipase (PEL) was used to catalyze biodiesel production from corn oil in [BMIm][PF₆]¹ (an ionic liquid, IL) and tert-butanol. Both systems were optimized in terms of MeOH/oil molar ratio, reaction temperature, enzyme loading, solvent volume, and water content. The high conversion obtained in the IL (86%) as compared to that in tert-butanol (52%) demonstrates that the IL is a superior solvent for PEL-catalyzed biodiesel production. Poor yields were obtained in a series of hydrophilic ILs. Addition of salt hydrates affected biodiesel production predominantly through the specific ion (Hofmeister) effect. The impact of methanol on both activity and stability of PEL in the IL and in hexane was investigated, in comparison to the results obtained by two commonly used lipases, Novozym 435 and Lipozyme TLIM. The results substantiate that while different lipases show different resistance to methanol in different reaction systems, PEL is tolerant to methanol in both systems.     

扩展青霉碱性脂肪酶基因在毕赤酵母中的高效表达

将编码扩展青霉碱性脂肪酶 (PEL)的cDNA克隆到酵母整合型质粒pPIC3.5K ,电转化His4缺陷型巴斯德毕赤酵母 (Pichiapastoris)GS115 ,通过橄榄油 MM平板及PCR方法筛选和鉴定重组子。重组子发酵液经SDS PAGE分析、橄榄油检验板鉴定 ,表明扩展青霉碱性脂肪酶基因在巴斯德毕赤酵母中获得了高效表达。表达蛋白分泌至培养基中 ,分子量约 2 8kD ,与扩展青霉碱性脂肪酶大小一致 ,占分泌蛋白的 95 %。橄榄油检验板检验表明该表达蛋白可分解橄榄油 ,通过优化该表达菌的发酵条件 ,以橄榄油为底物进行酶活测定 ,其发酵液酶活可达 2 6 0u mL。     

Produciton and biological activity of patulin and citrinin from Penicillium expansum

Penicillium expansum isolated from meat and apples produced both patulin and citrinin. Toxin identity was confirmed by spectroscopic and physical methods. The mean lethal dose in chicken embryos was determined for toxins administered both singly and in various ratios. Data from simultaneous administration of mycotoxin combinations plotted as isobolograms showed and additive effect. Both toxins were teratogenic in chicken embryos.     

Kinetics of biofilm formation by drinking water isolated Penicillium expansum

Current knowledge on drinking water (DW) biofilms has been obtained mainly from studies on bacterial biofilms. Very few reports on filamentous fungi (ff) biofilms are available, although they can contribute to the reduction in DW quality. This study aimed to assess the dynamics of biofilm formation by Penicillium expansum using microtiter plates under static conditions, mimicking water flow behaviour in stagnant regions of drinking water distribution systems. Biofilms were analysed in terms of biomass (crystal violet staining), metabolic activity (resazurin, fluorescein diacetate and 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide [MTT]) and morphology (epifluorescence [calcofluor white M2R, FUN-1, FDA and acridine orange] and bright-field microscopies). Biofilm development over time showed the typical sigmoidal curve with noticeable different phases in biofilm formation (induction, exponential, stationary, and sloughing off). The methods used to assess metabolic activity provided similar results. The microscope analysis allowed identification of the involvement of conidia in initial adhesion (4 h), germlings (8 h), initial monolayers (12 h), a monolayer of intertwined hyphae (24 h), mycelial development, hyphal layering and bundling, and development of the mature biofilms (≥48 h). P. expansum grows as a complex, multicellular biofilm in 48 h. The metabolic activity and biomass of the fungal biofilms were shown to increase over time and a correlation between metabolism, biofilm mass and hyphal development was found.     

The isoepoxydon dehydrogenase gene of the patulin metabolic pathway differs for Penicillium griseofulvum and Penicillium expansum

Purified DNA from isolates of Penicillium griseofulvum and P. expansum was used as a template to amplify a 600-bp fragment of the isoepoxydon dehydrogenase (idh) gene of the patulin biosynthetic pathway. Primer pairs designed from the P. griseofulvum gene (GenBank accession AF006680) to amplify specific regions of the idh gene yielded similar-sized bands for all strains. Asymmetrical amplification produced DNA products for sequencing and DNA sequences were translated to produce the corresponding amino acid sequences. After removal of two introns present in the region sequenced, amino acid sequences were compared. There were 12 amino acid differences between P. expansum and P. griseofulvum in the coding region. The differences correlated with the amount of patulin previously produced in culture, with strains of P. griseofulvum producing the greatest amounts of patulin.     

Produciton and biological activity of patulin and citrinin from Penicillium expansum.

Penicillium expansum isolated from meat and apples produced both patulin and citrinin. Toxin identity was confirmed by spectroscopic and physical methods. The mean lethal dose in chicken embryos was determined for toxins administered both singly and in various ratios. Data from simultaneous administration of mycotoxin combinations plotted as isobolograms showed and additive effect. Both toxins were teratogenic in chicken embryos.     

A Comparison of the Unfolded Protein Response in Solid-State with Submerged Cultures of Aspergillus oryzae

The unfolded protein response (UPR) is a regulatory system to maintain the homeostasis of ER functions. Here we report a comparison of express levels of UPR relevant genes in Aspergillus oryzae between solid-state and submerged cultivation. The results were that up-regulation of the UPR mechanism in solid-state culture was higher than in submerged culture (heat-shock or non-stress conditions). This might have been a result of changing culture conditions.     

Effect of preservatives on patulin production by Penicillium expansum.

Penicillium expansum has been grown on Capek-Dox medium using glucose and fructose as carbon source. Preservatives used in fruit processing and introduced in the medium were sorbic acid, formic acid, benzoic acid, SO2 and saccharose. Sulphur dioxide had a most inhibitory effect on mycelium growth and patulin production, formic acid concentration of 0.025% increased the amount of patulin by about 30% as compared to the culture with no preservatives. However its higher concentrations inhibited synthesis of this mycotoxin. Sorbic acid concentration of 0.1% stimulated the fungus strains examined in patulin synthesis but its highest amounts were detected using 0.0125% benzoic acid increased patulin secretion from 8 to 50% as compared to the control, depending on the strain examined. Saccharose concentration up to 50% clearly decreased patulin content in the medium until its total disappearance.     

Effect of Penicillium expansum culture conditions on patulin production.

Penicillium expansum strains grown on Capek-Dox liquid medium excreted patulin to the medium. Its amount increased until day 12, then smaller amounts of the toxin were observed. Maximum patulin excretion took place at 25 degrees C, pH 6, although at 5 degrees C, pH 3 the presence of this mycotoxin was also observed. The highest amount of patulin produced was observed in medium containing fructose.