The Aspergillus niger acuA and acuB genes correspond to the facA and facB genes in Aspergillus nidulans

Mutants in Aspergillus niger unable to grow on acetate as a sole carbon source were previously isolated by resistance to 1.2% propionate medium containing 0.1% glucose. AcuA mutants lacked acetyl-CoA synthetase (ACS) activity and acuB mutants lacked both ACS and isocitrate lyase activity. An acuA mutant was transformed to the acu+ phenotype with a clone of ACS (facA) from Aspergillus nidulans. The acuB mutant was transformed with the A. niger facB clone which has been identified by cross-hybridisation of an A. nidulans facB clone. These results confirm that acuA in A. niger is the gene for ACS and acuB is analogous to the A. nidulans facB regulatory gene.     

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 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.     

Gene function identified by interspecific transformation

Aspergillus nidulans is able to utilize 2-pyrrolidinone as a nitrogen source while two related Aspergillus species, A. niger and A. terreus, cannot. Mutations in the lamA gene of A. nidulans prevent growth on 2-pyrrolidinone. A plasmid (pLAM7) has been isolated containing the A. nidulans lamA gene and a divergently transcribed adjacent gene of unknown function. Transformation of A. terreus with subclones of pLAM7 showed that both genes are essential for the utilization of a new nitrogen source, 2-pyrrolidinone, in that species. The previously unidentified gene has been designated lamB.     

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.     

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.     

Transformation of Aspergillus niger using the argB gene of Aspergillus nidulans

A mutant of Aspergillus niger defective in ornithine transcarbamylase function was transformed with plasmids carrying a functional copy of the argB gene of Aspergillus nidulans after treatment of spheroplasts in the presence of polyethylene glycol and calcium ions. The plasmid pDG3 gave stable transformants at a frequency of 4 per microgram of input DNA. Southern blot analysis of DNA from transformants showed that pDG3 DNA had integrated into the A. niger chromosomes at a variety of locations. The transformants were phenotypically stable for many mitotic divisions. This procedure may potentially be used to insert any gene into the genome of A. niger. A cosmid shuttle vector, pDG1, for cloning in Aspergillus was also constructed.     

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.     

瑞氏木霉表达黑曲霉葡萄糖氧化酶

利用高表达分泌纤维素酶的真菌瑞氏木霉表达重组的黑曲霉葡萄糖氧化酶。在大肠杆菌DH5α中构建瑞氏木霉纤维素酶CBHI启动子和CBHI信号肽基因黑曲霉葡萄糖氧化酶基因瑞氏木霉纤维素酶CBHI终止子构巢曲霉的甘油醛3磷酸脱氢酶启动子大肠杆菌抗潮霉素B磷酸转移酶基因构巢曲霉色氨酸C终止子pUC19(命名为pCBHGOD)质粒,线性化后用瑞氏木霉纤维素酶CBHI启动子和CBHI信号肽基因黑曲霉葡萄糖氧化酶基因瑞氏木霉纤维素酶CBHI终止子构巢曲霉的甘油醛3磷酸脱氢酶启动子大肠杆菌抗潮霉素B磷酸转移酶基因构巢曲霉色氨酸C终止子(命名为CBHGOD)核酸片段转化瑞氏木霉QM9414原生质体。用PCR扩增方法筛选出同源重组葡萄糖氧化酶基因的瑞士木霉突变株。用麦杆诱导瑞氏木霉突变株,生产黑曲霉葡萄糖氧化酶,Westernblot分析重组的葡萄糖氧化酶分子量与Sigma公司的天然黑曲霉葡萄糖氧化酶一致,生产的重组酶活性25umL,相当于Sigma公司葡萄糖氧化酶标准品的产量为0.5gL。瑞氏木霉可用于生产黑曲霉葡萄糖氧化酶。     

The pH-induced glycosylation of secreted phosphatases is mediated in Aspergillus nidulans by the regulatory gene pacC-dependent pathway

In this communication, we show that the pacC(c)14 mutation drastically reduced the mannose and N-acetylglycosamine content of the pacA-encoded acid phosphatase secreted by the fungus Aspergillus nidulans when grown at 22 degrees C, pH 5.0, compared to a control strain. The staining after PAGE was not observed for the pacA-encoded acid phosphatase, while the palD-encoded Pi-repressible alkaline phosphatase had an altered electrophoretic mobility. In addition, the secreted acid phosphatase also had a reduced number of isoforms visualized by staining after IEF and glycosylation had a protective effect against its heat inactivation. We also show that a full-length version of gene pacC-1 cloned from Neurospora crassa complemented the pacC(c)14 mutation of A. nidulans, including the remediation of both the acid and alkaline Pi-repressible phosphatases secreted at pH 5.0, which indicates that glycosylation of secreted phosphatases is mediated in A. nidulans by the conserved PacC pathway that governs pH-responsive gene expression.     

植酸酶产生菌黑曲霉N14的诱变选育及其基因分析

以植酸酶产生菌黑曲霉03214为出发菌株,经紫外线和亚硝基胍诱变,获得了产酶活性较出发菌株提高了22．3％,达422IU／ml发酵液的突变菌株黑曲霉N14,其最适pH值为2．5,最适温度为50℃。通过对黑曲霉N14植酸酶phyA基因进行PCR扩增,获得了一条长约1．5kb的特异性产物。以pMD18-T为载体,构建了含有目的基因片段的重组质粒。DNA序列测定表明,目的基因片段含有植酸酶phyA基因的完整序列(GenBank Accession：AY426977),phyA基因全长1506bp,其中包含一段长102bp的内含子,编码467个氨基酸,有10个潜在的糖基化位点,5’端有一编码19个氨基酸的信号肽序列。实验结果为植酸酶基因工程菌的构建奠定了基础。     

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.     

The genes gmdA, encoding an amidase, and bzuA, encoding a cytochrome P450, are required for benzamide utilization in Aspergillus nidulans

Two unlinked loci, gmdA and bzuA, have previously been identified as being required for the utilization of benzamide as the sole nitrogen source by Aspergillus nidulans. We have cloned each of these genes via direct complementation. The gmdA gene encodes a predicted product belonging to the amidase signature sequence family that displays similarity to AmdS from A. nidulans. However, identity is significantly higher to the amdS gene from Aspergillus niger. The bzuA gene encodes a protein belonging to the cytochrome P450 superfamily and is orthologous to the benzoate para-hydroxylase-encoding gene bphA of A. niger. The bzuA1 mutation prevents the use of benzoate as a carbon source and intracellular accumulation of benzoate results in growth inhibition on benzamide. Northern blot analysis has shown that gmdA expression is subject solely to AreA-dependent nitrogen metabolite repression while bzuA is strongly benzoate inducible and subject to CreA-mediated carbon catabolite repression and a probable inactivation of benzoate induction by glucose. Fluorescence microscopy of a fusion of the N-terminal end of BzuA to green fluorescent protein revealed that this protein localizes to the endoplasmic reticulum.