An Aspergillus fumigatus alkaline protease mutant constructed by gene disruption is deficient in extracellular elastase activity

Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis, usually caused by Aspergillus fumigatus, is a life-threatening condition of immunosuppressed patients. We have created a mutant strain of this fungus that lacks an extracellular alkaline protease (AFAlp). This was accomplished by transformation of A. fumigatus with a plasmid containing a selectable marker for hygromycin B resistance, and a 504 bp segment of the AFAlp gene, obtained by polymerase-chain-reaction-based amplification of A. fumigatus genomic DNA. Approximately 25% of transformants resulted from disruption of the AFAlp gene. SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of proteins from the culture filtrate of a strain carrying the AFAlp gene disruption showed that it lacked a major protein of 33 kDa. Furthermore, in contrast to the culture filtrate from wild-type cells, the mutant had undetectable activity on azocollagen and elastin-Congo red, over a broad pH range. This shows that AFAlp accounts for most, if not all, of the extracellular elastinolytic activity of A. fumigatus, and that the mutant strain will be useful in assessing the role of AFAlp in pathogenicity.     

Nucleotide sequence of a genomic and a cDNA clone encoding an extracellular alkaline protease of Aspergillus fumigatus

An Aspergillus fumigatus extracellular alkaline protease (ALP) which is an enzyme of the subtilisin family is a potential virulent factor of the fungus. The gene encoding ALP was isolated from a genomic library made from DNA of an A. fumigatus isolate. The nucleotide sequence of this gene was compared to that of a cDNA encoding A. oryzae ALP and to that of a cDNA from A. fumigatus encoding the mature ALP protein. Mature A. fumigatus ALP contains 282 amino acids and is encoded by three exons. The pre-proenzyme has a leader sequence of 121 amino acids.     

黑曲霉pepD基因阻断突变菌株的构建及功能分析

运用同源重组技术破坏了黑曲霉基因组中的pepD基因,该基因编码一种类subtilisin的胞外蛋白酶PEPD。实验以黑曲霉GICC2773基因组DNA为模板,PCR扩增pepD基因,并在此基因中间插入潮霉素抗性基因(hph)表达单元,由此产生了3.7kb的pepD阻断基因片段。将此阻断基因片段与载体pBS连接,构建成pepD基因阻断质粒pBSDH。采用原生质体-CaCl2/PEG法将酶切阻断质粒得到的含pepD基因和hph表达单元的3.7kb线性片段转化AspergillusnigerGICC2773菌株,在含潮霉素的平板上筛选潮霉素抗性转化子,从这些抗性转化子中经PCR检测分离到到1个pepD基因阻断突变菌株?pepD66。外源漆酶分泌活性分析显示,黑曲霉pepD基因的破坏使其外源漆酶的分泌表达有所提高。     

Disruption of the gene encoding the secreted acid protease (ACP) in the yeast Candida tropicalis

The gene for the secreted acid protease (ACP), a potential virulence factor of Candida species, was inactivated in Candida tropicalis by gene disruption. The disruption was performed by cotransformation of an ade2 C. tropicalis mutant with a linear DNA fragment carrying a deletion in ACP, and the replicative vector pMK16 which carries a selectable ADE2 gene marker. Few of the transformants exhibited lower protease secretion levels and were shown to have one deleted and one unaffected ACP copy, since C. tropicalis is a diploid yeast. These transformants were rendered homozygotic for this deletion by mild UV-treatment. One of the homozygotic acp deletion mutants obtained was completely devoid of extracellular protease activity and grew poorly on bovine serum albumin-containing medium. This mutant could be complemented by an ACP fragment inserted in pMK16, but also by an acid protease gene isolated from C. parapsilosis.     

额外拷贝ERG6基因对烟曲霉的影响

通过构建烟曲霉ERG6基因额外拷贝株．研究该基因对烟曲霉生长速度、抗药物敏感性的影响。在烟曲霉基因组找出烟曲霉可能的ERG6基因的开放读码框(ORF),PCR扩增ERG6的ORF连同其上下游各约1 kb的DNA片段,利用DNA重组的方法将该片段克隆到载体pRG-AMA1-NotI。用重组后的质粒转化烟曲霉尿嘧啶营养缺陷株AF293．1。在MM和YAG培养基上观察转化子的生长速度。采用纸片扩散法和微量液基稀释法测定转化子对抗真菌药物敏感性。烟曲霉基因组中存在一个拷贝的ERG6基因,ORF大小为1,256 bp。其编码的蛋白与白念珠菌、酿酒酵母固醇甲基转移酶(Ers6p)的氨基酸相同率分别为57%和50%,相似率分别为70%和63%。烟曲霉中ERG6基因被成功克隆到了pRG-AMA1-Not I,产生了质粒pERG6。用pERG6和空载体pRG-AMA1-Not I转化AF293．1后,分别得到转化子AF-pERG6和AF-empty。AF-pERG6在MM和YAG培养基上的生长速度均比AF-empty慢。AF-pERG6和AF-empty对伊曲康唑、伏力康唑、特比萘芬、两性霉素B、卡泊芬净、灰黄霉素的敏感性没有差异。ERG6基因额外拷贝不影响烟曲霉对伊曲康唑、伏力康唑、特比萘芬、两性霉素B、卡泊芬净、灰黄霉素的敏感性,但是能使烟曲霉的生长速度减慢。     

Deletion and allelic exchange of the Aspergillus fumigatus veA locus via a novel recyclable marker module

Detailed evaluation of gene functions in an asexual fungus requires advanced methods of molecular biology. For the generation of targeted gene deletions in the opportunistic pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus we designed a novel blaster module allowing dominant selection of transformants due to resistance to phleomycin as well as dominant (counter)selection of a Cre recombinase-mediated marker excision event. For validation purposes we have deleted the A. fumigatus pabaA gene in a wild-type isolate by making use of this cassette. The resulting pabaA::loxP strain served as the recipient for subsequent targeting of the velvet locus. Homologous reconstitution of the deleted gene was performed by an allele whose expression is driven in a nitrogen source-dependent manner, as validated by Northern analyses. Overexpression of the veA locus in A. fumigatus does not result in any obvious phenotype, whereas the sporulation capacities of the veA null mutant are reduced on nitrate-containing medium, a phenotype that is completely restored in the reconstituted strain.     

A Developmentally Regulated Gene Cluster Involved in Conidial Pigment Biosynthesis in Aspergillus fumigatus

Aspergillus fumigatus, a filamentous fungus producing bluish-green conidia, is an important opportunistic pathogen that primarily affects immunocompromised patients. Conidial pigmentation of A. fumigatus significantly influences its virulence in a murine model. In the present study, six genes, forming a gene cluster spanning 19 kb, were identified as involved in conidial pigment biosynthesis in A. fumigatus. Northern blot analyses showed the six genes to be developmentally regulated and expressed during conidiation. The gene products of alb1 (for "albino 1"), arp1 (for "aspergillus reddish-pink 1"), and arp2 have high similarity to polyketide synthases, scytalone dehydratases, and hydroxynaphthalene reductases, respectively, found in the dihydroxynaphthalene (DHN)-melanin pathway of brown and black fungi. The abr1 gene (for "aspergillus brown 1") encodes a putative protein possessing two signatures of multicopper oxidases. The abr2 gene product has homology to the laccase encoded by the yA gene of Aspergillus nidulans. The function of ayg1 (for "aspergillus yellowish-green 1") remains unknown. Involvement of the six genes in conidial pigmentation was confirmed by the altered conidial color phenotypes that resulted from disruption of each gene in A. fumigatus. The presence of a DHN-melanin pathway in A. fumigatus was supported by the accumulation of scytalone and flaviolin in the arp1 deletant, whereas only flaviolin was accumulated in the arp2 deletants. Scytalone and flaviolin are well-known signature metabolites of the DHN-melanin pathway. Based on DNA sequence similarity, gene disruption results, and biochemical analyses, we conclude that the 19-kb DNA fragment contains a six-gene cluster which is required for conidial pigment biosynthesis in A. fumigatus. However, the presence of abr1, abr2, and ayg1 in addition to alb1, arp1, and arp2 suggests that conidial pigment biosynthesis in A. fumigatus is more complex than the known DHN-melanin pathway.     

Development of a homologous transformation system for the opportunistic human pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus based on the sC gene encoding ATP sulfurylase

The development of a homologous transformation system for the opportunistic human pathogenic fungus Aspergillus fumigatus is described. The system is based on the sC gene encoding ATP sulfurylase. Several A. fumigatus sC mutant strains were readily isolated by strong selection for selenate resistance. The coding region plus upstream and downstream regulatory sequences of the A. fumigatus sC gene were cloned by inverse PCR and then sequenced. Sequencing of the sC cDNA revealed the presence of five introns located within the first half of the gene. The A. fumigatus sC gene encodes a protein of 574 amino acids which is highly similar to ATP sulfurylases from the filamentous fungal species Aspergillus nidulans, Aspergillus terreus and Penicillium chrysogenum. By contrast, ATP sulfurylases from the yeasts Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Schizosaccharomyces pombe lack the C-terminal adenosine-5'-phosphosulfate kinase-like domain present in the filamentous fungal orthologues. A 3.8-kb DNA fragment amplified by PCR and containing the sC gene plus 5' and 3' flanking regions was cloned into pUC19 to give the vector pSCFUM. Transformation of two different sC mutant isolates with the plasmid pSCFUM established the functionality of this new homologous transformation system. Molecular analysis of sC+ transformants showed that up to 44% of transformed clones contained one or more copies of the entire plasmid integrated at the sC locus. This result also demonstrates the utility of the sC marker for targeting specific genetic constructs to the A. fumigatus sC locus, facilitating studies of gene regulation and function.     

Recombinational inactivation of the gene encoding nitrate reductase in Aspergillus parasiticus.

Functional disruption of the gene encoding nitrate reductase (niaD) in Aspergillus parasiticus was conducted by two strategies, one-step gene replacement and the integrative disruption. Plasmid pPN-1, in which an internal DNA fragment of the niaD gene was replaced by a functional gene encoding orotidine monophosphate decarboxylase (pyrG), was constructed. Plasmid pPN-1 was introduced in linear form into A. parasiticus CS10 (ver-1 wh-1 pyrG) by transformation. Approximately 25% of the uridine prototrophic transformants (pyrG+) were chlorate resistant (Chlr), demonstrating their inability to utilize nitrate as a sole nitrogen source. The genetic block in nitrate utilization was confirmed to occur in the niaD gene by the absence of growth of the A. parasiticus CS10 transformants on medium containing nitrate as the sole nitrogen source and the ability to grow on several alternative nitrogen sources. Southern hybridization analysis of Chlr transformants demonstrated that the resident niaD locus was replaced by the nonfunctional allele in pPN-1. To generate an integrative disruption vector (pSKPYRG), an internal fragment of the niaD gene was subcloned into a plasmid containing the pyrG gene as a selectable marker. Circular pSKPYRG was transformed into A. parasiticus CS10. Chlr pyrG+ transformants were screened for nitrate utilization and by Southern hybridization analysis. Integrative disruption of the genomic niaD gene occurred in less than 2% of the transformants. Three gene replacement disruption transformants and two integrative disruption transformants were tested for mitotic stability after growth under nonselective conditions. All five transformants were found to stably retain the Chlr phenotype after growth on nonselective medium.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Molecular characterization of the food-borne fungus Neosartorya fischeri (Malloch and Cain).

The food-borne fungus Neosartorya fischeri, which is phenotypically related to the human opportunistic pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus, causes spoilage of heat-processed fruit products. Genomic methods were used to type N. fischeri strains and identify the genomic relationship between A. fumigatus and N. fischeri and between the different varieties of N. fischeri. EcoRI restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) patterns obtained after ethidium bromide staining could differentiate most of N. fischeri var. glabra and N. fischeri var. spinosa strains. On the contrary, all N. fischeri var. fischeri strains tested exhibit the same RFLP pattern, which was similar to the A. fumigatus pattern. Similarly, Southern hybridization with a ribosomal probe showed some polymorphism between N. fischeri var. glabra and N. fischeri var. spinosa strains but could not distinguish between N. fischeri var. fischeri and A. fumigatus strains. By using the endonucleases EcoRI, HindIII, and BglII to generate Southern blot patterns with a fragment of the A. fumigatus gene coding for a 33-kDa protease, it was possible to differentiate N. fischeri var. fischeri from A. fumigatus. The difference between N. fischeri and A. fumigatus was confirmed by the use of moderately repetitive nonribosomal A. fumigatus sequences. These results are in agreement with previous studies that showed important infraspecific polymorphism within N. fischeri var. glabra and N. fischeri var. spinosa and, in contrast, the homogeneity of N. fischeri var. fischeri strains. A unique Southern blot pattern was seen for each strain of N. fischeri fingerprinted with the A. fumigatus repetitive sequence.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Inhibition of coaggregation between Porphyromonas gingivalis and Streptococcus oralis by fibrinogen fragments

Abstract The aspfI gene encoding a ribonucleotoxin, a putative virulence factor of Aspergillus fumigatus , was inactivated by gene disruption. Gene replacement through homologous recombination by the disrupted allele tagged by the hygromycin B resistance marker was performed by transformation of a pathogenic strain. One transformant with the disrupted aspfI gene failed to produce the ASPFI protein and was shown to be pathogenic for mice. We concluded that this ribotoxin is not a main factor in the colonization of the lung tissues by A. fumigatus .     

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。     

Pseudomonas aeruginosa alkaline protease: evidence for secretion genes and study of secretion mechanism.

A 6.5-kb DNA fragment carrying the functions required for specific secretion of the extracellular alkaline protease produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa was cloned. The whole 6.5-kb DNA fragment was transcribed in one direction and probably carried three genes involved in secretion. The expression in trans of these genes, together with the apr gene, in Escherichia coli allowed synthesis and secretion of the alkaline protease, which was extensively investigated by performing pulse-chase experiments under various conditions. We demonstrated the absence of a precursor form, as well as the independence of alkaline protease translocation from SecA. The absence of secretion genes impaired alkaline protease secretion; the protein then remained intracellular and was partially degraded.     

根癌农杆菌介导的白腐丝状真菌——黄孢原毛平革菌的转化

利用农杆菌介导的方法成功地对黄孢原毛平革菌（Phanerochaete chrysosporium）进行了遗传转化。将含有潮霉素磷酸转移酶融合基因的双元质粒pCH61300转入根癌农杆菌（Agrobacterium tumefaciens）208中,然后用该转化菌分别感染黄孢原毛平革菌的分生孢子和原生质体,获得16株可能的转化子,经复筛,共获得6株潮霉素抗性水平为100μg/mL的稳定转化子,分生孢子和原生质体的转化频率没有明显差别。PCR检测结果显示,抗性基因已导入黄孢原毛平革菌细胞中;Southern杂交表明,TDNA以单拷贝形式整合到黄孢原毛平革菌基因组中。其中的一个转化子菌落形态与原野生型菌株相比有所不同,菌丝稀薄,分生孢子较少。利用分生孢子转化更为简便易行,无需特殊的设备和制备原生质体,此方法为深入开展该菌的遗传转化研究奠定了基础。     

Disruption of single-copy genes encoding acidic ribosomal proteins in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Using the cloned genes coding for the ribosomal acidic proteins L44 and L45, constructions were made which deleted part of the coding sequence and inserted a DNA fragment at that site carrying either the URA3 or HIS3 gene. By gene disruption techniques with linearized DNA from these constructions, strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae were obtained which lacked a functional gene for either protein L44 or protein L45. The disrupted genes in the transformants were characterized by Southern blots. The absence of the proteins was verified by electrofocusing and immunological techniques, but a compensating increase of the other acidic ribosomal proteins was not detected. The mutant lacking L44 grew at a rate identical to the parental strain in complex as well as in minimal medium. The L45-disrupted strain also grew well in both media but at a slower rate than the parental culture. A diploid strain was obtained by crossing both transformants, and by tetrad analysis it was shown that the double transformant lacking both genes is not viable. These results indicated that proteins L44 and L45 are independently dispensable for cell growth and that the ribosome is functional in the absence of either of them.     

Genomic analysis of a virulent and a less virulent strain of the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana, using restriction fragment length polymorphisms.

The genomic DNA of two strains of the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana, strain GK2016, a "wild type" (virulent), and strain GK2051, a less virulent mutant to grasshoppers, was digested with 12 restriction endonucleases. Gel electrophoresis conditions were established to show restriction fragment length patterns visually in the digested DNA stained with ethidium bromide. The less virulent mutant was generated by ultraviolet illumination of conidiospores at a 95% lethal dose. Both strains of the fungi were identical in morphology as well as in 16 of 22 API-ZYM kit enzyme assays. Differences in levels of total enzyme activity were observed for esterase, esterase-lipase, beta-galactosidase, chitinase, and protease. A Neurospora crassa beta-tubulin gene (heterologous gene) and two homologous DNA probes (pJK16 and pJK18) hybridized to several specific DNA bands in B. bassiana strain GK2016 but not in strain GK2051. Strain GK2051 gave different restriction fragment length pattern when compared with its parent strain. Taken together, the data show restriction fragment length differences between the genomic DNA of the two strains, including the loss of some DNA sequences from the mutant strain, which may be involved in pathogenicity. Finally, B. bassiana GK2016 contains a beta-tubulin gene with at least partial homology to that of N. crassa.     

Direct and indirect gene replacements in Aspergillus nidulans.

We performed three sets of experiments to determine whether cloned DNA fragments can be substituted for homologous regions of the Aspergillus nidulans genome by DNA-mediated transformation. A linear DNA fragment containing a heteromorphic trpC+ allele was used to transform a trpC- strain to trpC+. Blot analysis of DNA from the transformants showed that the heteromorphic allele had replaced the trpC- allele in a minority of the strains. An A. nidulans trpC+ gene was inserted into the argB+ gene, and a linear DNA fragment containing the resultant null argB allele was used to transform a trpC- argB+ strain to trpC+. Approximately 30% of the transformants were simultaneously argB-. The null argB allele had replaced the wild-type allele in a majority of these strains. The A. nidulans SpoC1 C1-C gene was modified by removal of an internal restriction fragment and introduced into a trpC- strain by transformation with a circular plasmid. A transformant containing a tandem duplication of the C1-C region separated by plasmid DNA was self-fertilized, and trpC- progeny were selected. All of these had lost the introduced plasmid DNA sequences, whereas about half had retained the modified C1-C gene and lost the wild-type copy. Thus, it is possible with A. nidulans to replace chromosomal DNA sequences with DNA fragments that have been cloned and modified in vitro by using either one- or two-step procedures similar to those developed for Saccharomyces cerevisiae.     

嗜碱细菌NTT36嗜碱基因的亚克隆及其在大肠杆菌和农杆菌中的表达

将大肠杆菌ＨＢ１０１嗜碱转化子中质粒ｐＧＣＡ所携带的嗜碱基因亚克隆至双元载体ｐＢＩ１２１质粒中,构建了植物表达载体ｐＬＧＣ重组质粒。用其转化大肠杆菌ＨＢ１０１获得了能在碱性和卡那霉素抗性平板上生长的转化子,再通过三亲交配法将亚克隆质粒ｐＬＧＣ转化进农杆菌ＬＢＡ４４０４,又获得能在碱性平板和卡那霉素及利福平双抗平板上生长的转化子,Ｓｏｕｔｈｅｒｎ杂交结果表明ＨＢ１０１转化子亚克隆质粒ｐＬＧＣ是由来自于嗜碱芽孢杆菌ＮＴＴ３６染色体ＤＮＡ和双元载体ｐＢＩ１２１组成,且农杆菌ＬＢＡ４４０４转化子含有来自大肠杆菌亚克隆转化子的ｐＬＧＣ质粒。