scholarly journals Engineering Neurospora crassa for Improved Cellobiose and Cellobionate Production

2014 ◽  
Vol 81 (2) ◽  
pp. 597-603 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda Hildebrand ◽  
Edyta Szewczyk ◽  
Hui Lin ◽  
Takao Kasuga ◽  
Zhiliang Fan

ABSTRACTWe report engineeringNeurospora crassato improve the yield of cellobiose and cellobionate from cellulose. A previously engineered strain ofN. crassa(F5) with six of seven β-glucosidase (bgl) genes knocked out was shown to produce cellobiose and cellobionate directly from cellulose without the addition of exogenous cellulases. In this study, the F5 strain was further modified to improve the yield of cellobiose and cellobionate from cellulose by increasing cellulase production and decreasing product consumption. The effects of two catabolite repression genes,cre-1andace-1, on cellulase production were investigated. The F5 Δace-1mutant showed no improvement over the wild type. The F5 Δcre-1and F5 Δace-1Δcre-1strains showed improved cellobiose dehydrogenase and exoglucanase expression. However, this improvement in cellulase expression did not lead to an improvement in cellobiose or cellobionate production. The cellobionate phosphorylase gene (ndvB) was deleted from the genome of F5 Δace-1Δcre-1to prevent the consumption of cellobiose and cellobionate. Despite a slightly reduced hydrolysis rate, the F5 Δace-1Δcre-1ΔndvBstrain converted 75% of the cellulose consumed to the desired products, cellobiose and cellobionate, compared to 18% converted by the strain F5 Δace-1Δcre-1.

2012 ◽  
Vol 79 (5) ◽  
pp. 1500-1507 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suk-Jin Ha ◽  
Heejin Kim ◽  
Yuping Lin ◽  
Myoung-Uoon Jang ◽  
Jonathan M. Galazka ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTSaccharomyces cerevisiaecannot utilize cellobiose, but this yeast can be engineered to ferment cellobiose by introducing both cellodextrin transporter (cdt-1) and intracellular β-glucosidase (gh1-1) genes fromNeurospora crassa. Here, we report that an engineeredS. cerevisiaestrain expressing the putative hexose transporter geneHXT2.4fromScheffersomyces stipitisandgh1-1can also ferment cellobiose. This result suggests that HXT2.4p may function as a cellobiose transporter whenHXT2.4is overexpressed inS. cerevisiae. However, cellobiose fermentation by the engineered strain expressingHXT2.4andgh1-1was much slower and less efficient than that by an engineered strain that initially expressedcdt-1andgh1-1. The rate of cellobiose fermentation by theHXT2.4-expressing strain increased drastically after serial subcultures on cellobiose. Sequencing and retransformation of the isolated plasmids from a single colony of the fast cellobiose-fermenting culture led to the identification of a mutation (A291D) in HXT2.4 that is responsible for improved cellobiose fermentation by the evolvedS. cerevisiaestrain. Substitutions for alanine (A291) of negatively charged amino acids (A291E and A291D) or positively charged amino acids (A291K and A291R) significantly improved cellobiose fermentation. The mutant HXT2.4(A291D) exhibited 1.5-fold higherKmand 4-fold higherVmaxvalues than those from wild-type HXT2.4, whereas the expression levels were the same. These results suggest that the kinetic properties of wild-type HXT2.4 expressed inS. cerevisiaeare suboptimal, and mutations of A291 into bulky charged amino acids might transform HXT2.4p into an efficient transporter, enabling rapid cellobiose fermentation by engineeredS. cerevisiaestrains.


2011 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 820-831 ◽  
Author(s):  
James D. Kim ◽  
Kayla Kaiser ◽  
Cynthia K. Larive ◽  
Katherine A. Borkovich

ABSTRACTConidiation is an asexual sporulation pathway that is a response to adverse conditions and is the main mode of dispersal utilized by filamentous fungal pathogens for reestablishment in a more favorable environment. Heterotrimeric G proteins (consisting of α, β, and γ subunits) have been shown to regulate conidiation in diverse fungi. Previous work has demonstrated that all three of the Gα subunits in the filamentous fungusNeurospora crassaaffect the accumulation of mass on poor carbon sources and that loss ofgna-3leads to the most dramatic effects on conidiation. In this study, we used1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to profile the metabolome ofN. crassain extracts isolated from vegetative hyphae and conidia from cultures grown under conditions of high or low sucrose. We compared wild-type and Δgna-3strains to determine whether lack ofgna-3causes a significant difference in the global metabolite profile. The results demonstrate that the global metabolome of wild-type hyphae is influenced by carbon availability. The metabolome of the Δgna-3strain cultured on both high and low sucrose is similar to that of the wild type grown on high sucrose, suggesting an overall defect in nutrient sensing in the mutant. However, analysis of individual metabolites revealed differences in wild-type and Δgna-3strains cultured under conditions of low and high sucrose.


2020 ◽  
Vol 86 (15) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan Liu ◽  
Yisong Liu ◽  
Duoduo Zhang ◽  
Xiaoting Chen ◽  
Qian Liu ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Filamentous fungi are intensively used for producing industrial enzymes, including lignocellulases. Employing insoluble cellulose to induce the production of lignocellulases causes some drawbacks, e.g., a complex fermentation operation, which can be overcome by using soluble inducers such as cellobiose. Here, a triple β-glucosidase mutant of Neurospora crassa, which prevents rapid turnover of cellobiose and thus allows the disaccharide to induce lignocellulases, was applied to profile the proteome responses to cellobiose and cellulose (Avicel). Our results revealed a shared proteomic response to cellobiose and Avicel, whose elements included lignocellulases and cellulolytic product transporters. While the cellulolytic proteins showed a correlated increase in protein and mRNA levels, only a moderate correlation was observed on a proteomic scale between protein and mRNA levels (R2 = 0.31). Ribosome biogenesis and rRNA processing were significantly overrepresented in the protein set with increased protein but unchanged mRNA abundances in response to Avicel. Ribosome biogenesis, as well as protein processing and protein export, was also enriched in the protein set that showed increased abundance in response to cellobiose. NCU05895, a homolog of yeast CWH43, is potentially involved in transferring a glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchor to nascent proteins. This protein showed increased abundance but no significant change in mRNA levels. Disruption of CWH43 resulted in a significant decrease in cellulase activities and secreted protein levels in cultures grown on Avicel, suggesting a positive regulatory role for CWH43 in cellulase production. The findings should have an impact on a systems engineering approach for strain improvement for the production of lignocellulases. IMPORTANCE Lignocellulases are important industrial enzymes for sustainable production of biofuels and bio-products. Insoluble cellulose has been commonly used to induce the production of lignocellulases in filamentous fungi, which causes a difficult fermentation operation and enzyme loss due to adsorption to cellulose. The disadvantages can be overcome by using soluble inducers, such as the disaccharide cellobiose. Quantitative proteome profiling of the model filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa revealed cellobiose-dependent pathways for cellulase production, including protein processing and export. A protein (CWH43) potentially involved in protein processing was found to be a positive regulator of lignocellulase production. The cellobiose-dependent mechanisms provide new opportunities to improve the production of lignocellulases in filamentous fungi.


2017 ◽  
Vol 83 (15) ◽  
Author(s):  
Umesh K. Bageshwar ◽  
Madhulika Srivastava ◽  
Peddisetty Pardha-Saradhi ◽  
Sangeeta Paul ◽  
Sellamuthu Gothandapani ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT In our endeavor to improve the nitrogen fixation efficiency of a soil diazotroph that would be unaffected by synthetic nitrogenous fertilizers, we have deleted a part of the negative regulatory gene nifL and constitutively expressed the positive regulatory gene nifA in the chromosome of Azotobacter chroococcum CBD15, a strain isolated from the local field soil. No antibiotic resistance gene or other foreign gene was present in the chromosome of the engineered strain. Wheat seeds inoculated with this engineered strain, which we have named Azotobacter chroococcum HKD15, were tested for 3 years in pots and 1 year in the field. The yield of wheat was enhanced by ∼60% due to inoculation of seeds by A. chroococcum HKD15 in the absence of any urea application. Ammonium only marginally affected acetylene reduction by the engineered Azotobacter strain. When urea was also applied, the same wheat yield could be sustained by using seeds inoculated with A. chroococcum HKD15 and using ∼85 kg less urea (∼40 kg less nitrogen) than the usual ∼257 kg urea (∼120 kg nitrogen) per hectare. Wheat plants arising from the seeds inoculated with the engineered Azotobacter strain exhibited far superior overall performance, had much higher dry weight and nitrogen content, and assimilated molecular 15N much better. A nitrogen balance experiment also revealed much higher total nitrogen content. Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) production by the wild type and that by the engineered strain were about the same. Inoculation of the wheat seeds with A. chroococcum HKD15 did not adversely affect the microbial population in the field rhizosphere soil. IMPORTANCE Application of synthetic nitrogenous fertilizers is a standard agricultural practice to augment crop yield. Plants, however, utilize only a fraction of the applied fertilizers, while the unutilized fertilizers cause grave environmental problems. Wild-type soil diazotrophic microorganisms cannot replace synthetic nitrogenous fertilizers, as these reduce atmospheric nitrogen very inefficiently and almost none at all in the presence of added nitrogenous fertilizers. If the nitrogen-fixing ability of soil diazotrophs could be improved and sustained even in the presence of synthetic nitrogenous fertilizers, then a mixture of the bacteria and a reduced quantity of chemical nitrogenous fertilizers could be employed to obtain the same grain yield but at a much-reduced environmental cost. The engineered Azotobacter strain that we have reported here has considerably enhanced nitrogen fixation and excretion abilities and can replace ∼85 kg of urea per hectare but sustain the same wheat yield, if the seeds are inoculated with it before sowing.


mBio ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Li ◽  
Jens Heller ◽  
A. Pedro Gonçalves ◽  
N. Louise Glass

ABSTRACT Filamentous fungi undergo somatic cell fusion to create a syncytial, interconnected hyphal network which confers a fitness benefit during colony establishment. However, barriers to somatic cell fusion between genetically different cells have evolved that reduce invasion by parasites or exploitation by maladapted genetic entities (cheaters). Here, we identified a predicted mannosyltransferase, glycosyltransferase family 69 protein (GT69-2) that was required for somatic cell fusion in Neurospora crassa. Cells lacking GT69-2 prematurely ceased chemotropic signaling and failed to complete cell wall dissolution and membrane merger in pairings with wild-type cells or between Δgt69-2 cells (self fusion). However, loss-of-function mutations in the linked regulator of cell fusion and cell wall remodeling-1 (rfw-1) locus suppressed the self-cell-fusion defects of Δgt69-2 cells, although Δgt69-2 Δrfw-1 double mutants still failed to undergo fusion with wild-type cells. Both GT69-2 and RFW-1 localized to the Golgi apparatus. Genetic analyses indicated that RFW-1 negatively regulates cell wall remodeling-dependent processes, including cell wall dissolution during cell fusion, separation of conidia during asexual sporulation, and conidial germination. GT69-2 acts as an antagonizer to relieve or prevent negative functions on cell fusion by RFW-1. In Neurospora species and N. crassa populations, alleles of gt69-2 were highly polymorphic and fell into two discrete haplogroups. In all isolates within haplogroup I, rfw-1 was conserved and linked to gt69-2. All isolates within haplogroup II lacked rfw-1. These data indicated that gt69-2/rfw-1 are under balancing selection and provide new mechanisms regulating cell wall remodeling during cell fusion and conidial separation. IMPORTANCE Cell wall remodeling is a dynamic process that balances cell wall integrity versus cell wall dissolution. In filamentous fungi, cell wall dissolution is required for somatic cell fusion and conidial separation during asexual sporulation. In the filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa, allorecognition checkpoints regulate the cell fusion process between genetically different cells. Our study revealed two linked loci with transspecies polymorphisms and under coevolution, rfw-1 and gt69-2, which form a coordinated system to regulate cell wall remodeling during somatic cell fusion, conidial separation, and asexual spore germination. RFW-1 acts as a negative regulator of these three processes, while GT69-2 functions antagonistically to RFW-1. Our findings provide new insight into the mechanisms involved in regulation of fungal cell wall remodeling during growth and development.


2012 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 1362-1370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barry J. Bowman ◽  
Stephen Abreu ◽  
Jessica K. Johl ◽  
Emma Jean Bowman

ABSTRACTThepmrgene is predicted to encode a Ca2+-ATPase in the secretory pathway. We examined two strains ofNeurospora crassathat lacked PMR: the Δpmrstrain, in whichpmrwas completely deleted, andpmrRIP, in which the gene was extensively mutated. Both strains had identical, complex phenotypes. Compared to the wild type, these strains required high concentrations of calcium or manganese for optimal growth and had highly branched, slow-growing hyphae. They conidiated poorly, and the shape and size of the conidia were abnormal. Calcium accumulated in the Δpmrstrains to only 20% of the wild-type level. High concentrations of MnCl2(1 to 5 mM) in growth medium partially suppressed the morphological defects but did not alter the defect in calcium accumulation. The ΔpmrΔnca-2double mutant (nca-2encodes a Ca2+-ATPase in the plasma membrane) accumulated 8-fold more calcium than the wild type, and the morphology of the hyphae was more similar to that of wild-type hyphae. Previous experiments failed to show a function fornca-1, which encodes a SERCA-type Ca2+-ATPase in the endoplasmic reticulum (B. J. Bowman, S. Abreu, E. Margolles-Clark, M. Draskovic, and E. J. Bowman, Eukaryot. Cell 10:654-661, 2011). ThepmrRIPΔnca-1double mutant accumulated small amounts of calcium, like the Δpmrstrain, but exhibited even more extreme morphological defects. Thus, PMR can apparently replace NCA-1 in the endoplasmic reticulum, but NCA-1 cannot replace PMR. The morphological defects in the Δpmrstrain are likely caused, in part, by insufficient concentrations of calcium and manganese in the Golgi compartment; however, PMR is also needed to accumulate normal levels of calcium in the whole cell.


2010 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 1766-1775 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abhiram Maddi ◽  
Stephen J. Free

ABSTRACT The enzyme α-1,6-mannosyltransferase (OCH-1) is required for the synthesis of galactomannans attached to the N-linked oligosaccharides of Neurospora crassa cell wall proteins. The Neurospora crassa och-1 mutant has a tight colonial phenotype and a defective cell wall. A carbohydrate analysis of the och-1 mutant cell wall revealed a 10-fold reduction in the levels of mannose and galactose and a total lack of 1,6-linked mannose residues. Analysis of the integral cell wall protein from wild-type and och-1 mutant cells showed that the mutant cell wall had reduced protein content. The och-1 mutant was found to secrete 18-fold more protein than wild-type cells. Proteomic analysis of the proteins released by the mutant into the growth medium identified seven of the major cell wall proteins. Western blot analysis of ACW-1 and GEL-1 (two glycosylphosphatidylinositol [GPI]-anchored proteins that are covalently integrated into the wild-type cell wall) showed that high levels of these proteins were being released into the medium by the och-1 mutant. High levels of ACW-1 and GEL-1 were also released from the och-1 mutant cell wall by subjecting the wall to boiling in a 1% SDS solution, indicating that these proteins are not being covalently integrated into the mutant cell wall. From these results, we conclude that N-linked mannosylation of cell wall proteins by OCH-1 is required for their efficient covalent incorporation into the cell wall.


2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kiminori Kurashima ◽  
Michael Chae ◽  
Hirokazu Inoue ◽  
Shin Hatakeyama ◽  
Shuuitsu Tanaka

ABSTRACT Mitochondria are highly dynamic organelles that continuously fuse and divide. To maintain mitochondria, cells establish an equilibrium of fusion and fission events, which are mediated by dynamin-like GTPases. We previously showed that an mus-10 strain, a mutagen-sensitive strain of the filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa , is defective in an F-box protein that is essential for the maintenance of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), long life span, and mitochondrial morphology. Similarly, a uvs-5 mutant accumulates deletions within its mtDNA, has a shortened life span, and harbors fragmented mitochondria, the latter of which is indicative of an imbalance between mitochondrial fission and fusion. Since the uvs-5 mutation maps very close to the locus of fzo1 , encoding a mitofusin homologue thought to mediate mitochondrial outer membrane fusion, we determined the sequence of the fzo1 gene in the uvs-5 mutant. A single amino acid substitution (Q368R) was found in the GTPase domain of the FZO1 protein. Expression of wild-type FZO1 in the uvs-5 strain rescued the mutant phenotypes, while expression of a mutant FZO1 protein did not. Moreover, when knock-in of the Q368R mutation was performed on a wild-type strain, the resulting mutant displayed phenotypes identical to those of the uvs-5 mutant. Therefore, we concluded that the previously unidentified uvs-5 gene is fzo1 . Furthermore, we used immunoprecipitation analysis to show that the FZO1 protein interacts with MUS-10, which suggests that these two proteins may function together to maintain mitochondrial morphology.


Author(s):  
Karen S. Howard ◽  
H. D. Braymer ◽  
M. D. Socolofsky ◽  
S. A. Milligan

The recently isolated cell wall mutant slime X of Neurospora crassa was prepared for ultrastructural and morphological comparison with the cell wall mutant slime. The purpose of this article is to discuss the methods of preparation for TEM and SEM observations, as well as to make a preliminary comparison of the two mutants.TEM: Cells of the slime mutant were prepared for thin sectioning by the method of Bigger, et al. Slime X cells were prepared in the same manner with the following two exceptions: the cells were embedded in 3% agar prior to fixation and the buffered solutions contained 5% sucrose throughout the procedure.SEM: Two methods were used to prepare mutant and wild type Neurospora for the SEM. First, single colonies of mutant cells and small areas of wild type hyphae were cut from solid media and fixed with OSO4 vapors similar to the procedure used by Harris, et al. with one alteration. The cell-containing agar blocks were dehydrated by immersion in 2,2-dimethoxypropane (DMP).


2020 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. e01948-20
Author(s):  
Dalin Rifat ◽  
Si-Yang Li ◽  
Thomas Ioerger ◽  
Keshav Shah ◽  
Jean-Philippe Lanoix ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTThe nitroimidazole prodrugs delamanid and pretomanid comprise one of only two new antimicrobial classes approved to treat tuberculosis (TB) in 50 years. Prior in vitro studies suggest a relatively low barrier to nitroimidazole resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, but clinical evidence is limited to date. We selected pretomanid-resistant M. tuberculosis mutants in two mouse models of TB using a range of pretomanid doses. The frequency of spontaneous resistance was approximately 10−5 CFU. Whole-genome sequencing of 161 resistant isolates from 47 mice revealed 99 unique mutations, of which 91% occurred in 1 of 5 genes previously associated with nitroimidazole activation and resistance, namely, fbiC (56%), fbiA (15%), ddn (12%), fgd (4%), and fbiB (4%). Nearly all mutations were unique to a single mouse and not previously identified. The remaining 9% of resistant mutants harbored mutations in Rv2983 (fbiD), a gene not previously associated with nitroimidazole resistance but recently shown to be a guanylyltransferase necessary for cofactor F420 synthesis. Most mutants exhibited high-level resistance to pretomanid and delamanid, although Rv2983 and fbiB mutants exhibited high-level pretomanid resistance but relatively small changes in delamanid susceptibility. Complementing an Rv2983 mutant with wild-type Rv2983 restored susceptibility to pretomanid and delamanid. By quantifying intracellular F420 and its precursor Fo in overexpressing and loss-of-function mutants, we provide further evidence that Rv2983 is necessary for F420 biosynthesis. Finally, Rv2983 mutants and other F420H2-deficient mutants displayed hypersusceptibility to some antibiotics and to concentrations of malachite green found in solid media used to isolate and propagate mycobacteria from clinical samples.


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