Genome Mining Reveals a Surprising Number of Sugar Reductases in <i>Aspergillus niger</i>
Metabolic engineering of filamentous fungi has received increasing attention in recent years, especially in the context of creating better industrial fungal cell factories to produce a wide range of valuable enzymes and metabolites from plant biomass. Recent studies into the pentose catabolic pathwa...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2023-11-01
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| Series: | Journal of Fungi |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2309-608X/9/12/1138 |
| _version_ | 1797380425230843904 |
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| author | Astrid Mueller Li Xu Claudia Heine Tila Flach Miia R. Mäkelä Ronald P. de Vries |
| author_facet | Astrid Mueller Li Xu Claudia Heine Tila Flach Miia R. Mäkelä Ronald P. de Vries |
| author_sort | Astrid Mueller |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Metabolic engineering of filamentous fungi has received increasing attention in recent years, especially in the context of creating better industrial fungal cell factories to produce a wide range of valuable enzymes and metabolites from plant biomass. Recent studies into the pentose catabolic pathway (PCP) in <i>Aspergillus niger</i> have revealed functional redundancy in most of the pathway steps. In this study, a closer examination of the <i>A. niger</i> genome revealed five additional paralogs for the three original pentose reductases (LarA, XyrA, XyrB). Analysis of these genes using phylogeny, in vitro and in vivo functional analysis of the enzymes, and gene expression revealed that all can functionally replace LarA, XyrA, and XyrB. However, they are also active on several other sugars, suggesting a role for them in other pathways. This study therefore reveals the diversity of primary carbon metabolism in fungi, suggesting an intricate evolutionary process that distinguishes different species. In addition, through this study, the metabolic toolkit for synthetic biology and metabolic engineering of <i>A. niger</i> and other fungal cell factories has been expanded. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T20:37:04Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a54e17635f7646c48f2b2fe9f06ab0c4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2309-608X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T20:37:04Z |
| publishDate | 2023-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Fungi |
| spelling | doaj.art-a54e17635f7646c48f2b2fe9f06ab0c42023-12-22T14:19:15ZengMDPI AGJournal of Fungi2309-608X2023-11-01912113810.3390/jof9121138Genome Mining Reveals a Surprising Number of Sugar Reductases in <i>Aspergillus niger</i>Astrid Mueller0Li Xu1Claudia Heine2Tila Flach3Miia R. Mäkelä4Ronald P. de Vries5Fungal Physiology, Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute & Fungal Molecular Physiology, Utrecht University, Uppsalalaan 8, 3584 CT Utrecht, The NetherlandsFungal Physiology, Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute & Fungal Molecular Physiology, Utrecht University, Uppsalalaan 8, 3584 CT Utrecht, The NetherlandsFungal Physiology, Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute & Fungal Molecular Physiology, Utrecht University, Uppsalalaan 8, 3584 CT Utrecht, The NetherlandsFungal Physiology, Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute & Fungal Molecular Physiology, Utrecht University, Uppsalalaan 8, 3584 CT Utrecht, The NetherlandsDepartment of Microbiology, University of Helsinki, Viikinkaari 9, 00014 Helsinki, FinlandFungal Physiology, Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute & Fungal Molecular Physiology, Utrecht University, Uppsalalaan 8, 3584 CT Utrecht, The NetherlandsMetabolic engineering of filamentous fungi has received increasing attention in recent years, especially in the context of creating better industrial fungal cell factories to produce a wide range of valuable enzymes and metabolites from plant biomass. Recent studies into the pentose catabolic pathway (PCP) in <i>Aspergillus niger</i> have revealed functional redundancy in most of the pathway steps. In this study, a closer examination of the <i>A. niger</i> genome revealed five additional paralogs for the three original pentose reductases (LarA, XyrA, XyrB). Analysis of these genes using phylogeny, in vitro and in vivo functional analysis of the enzymes, and gene expression revealed that all can functionally replace LarA, XyrA, and XyrB. However, they are also active on several other sugars, suggesting a role for them in other pathways. This study therefore reveals the diversity of primary carbon metabolism in fungi, suggesting an intricate evolutionary process that distinguishes different species. In addition, through this study, the metabolic toolkit for synthetic biology and metabolic engineering of <i>A. niger</i> and other fungal cell factories has been expanded.https://www.mdpi.com/2309-608X/9/12/1138sugar catabolismorthology-based approachmetabolic engineering<i>Aspergillus niger</i>enzyme characterizationsynthetic biology |
| spellingShingle | Astrid Mueller Li Xu Claudia Heine Tila Flach Miia R. Mäkelä Ronald P. de Vries Genome Mining Reveals a Surprising Number of Sugar Reductases in <i>Aspergillus niger</i> Journal of Fungi sugar catabolism orthology-based approach metabolic engineering <i>Aspergillus niger</i> enzyme characterization synthetic biology |
| title | Genome Mining Reveals a Surprising Number of Sugar Reductases in <i>Aspergillus niger</i> |
| title_full | Genome Mining Reveals a Surprising Number of Sugar Reductases in <i>Aspergillus niger</i> |
| title_fullStr | Genome Mining Reveals a Surprising Number of Sugar Reductases in <i>Aspergillus niger</i> |
| title_full_unstemmed | Genome Mining Reveals a Surprising Number of Sugar Reductases in <i>Aspergillus niger</i> |
| title_short | Genome Mining Reveals a Surprising Number of Sugar Reductases in <i>Aspergillus niger</i> |
| title_sort | genome mining reveals a surprising number of sugar reductases in i aspergillus niger i |
| topic | sugar catabolism orthology-based approach metabolic engineering <i>Aspergillus niger</i> enzyme characterization synthetic biology |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2309-608X/9/12/1138 |
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