Spatial differentiation of gene expression in Aspergillus niger colony grown for sugar beet pulp utilization

Degradation of plant biomass to fermentable sugars is of critical importance for the use of plant materials for biofuels. Filamentous fungi are ubiquitous organisms and major plant biomass degraders. Single colonies of some fungal species can colonize massive areas as large as five soccer stadia. Du...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports Vol. 5; no. 1; p. 13592
Main Authors: Benoit, Isabelle, Zhou, Miaomiao, Vivas Duarte, Alexandra, Downes, Damien J., Todd, Richard B., Kloezen, Wendy, Post, Harm, Heck, Albert J. R., Maarten Altelaar, A. F., de Vries, Ronald P.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 28.08.2015
Nature Publishing Group
Subjects:
631/326/193/2538
631/326/193/2541
631/326/193/2543
Aspergillus niger - drug effects
Aspergillus niger - enzymology
Aspergillus niger - genetics
Aspergillus niger - growth & development
Beta vulgaris - metabolism
Biodegradation
Biofuels
Biomass
Carbon
Carbon - pharmacology
Carbon sources
Colonies
Colony Count, Microbial
Enzymes
Fungi
Gene expression
Gene Expression Profiling
Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal - drug effects
Genes, Fungal
Genomes
Heterogeneity
Humanities and Social Sciences
Monosaccharides
multidisciplinary
Nitrates
Nitrogen - pharmacology
Peptide Hydrolases - metabolism
Plant biomass
Polysaccharides - metabolism
Protein Biosynthesis
Pulp
Science
Secretion
Sugar
ISSN:2045-2322, 2045-2322
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Degradation of plant biomass to fermentable sugars is of critical importance for the use of plant materials for biofuels. Filamentous fungi are ubiquitous organisms and major plant biomass degraders. Single colonies of some fungal species can colonize massive areas as large as five soccer stadia. During growth, the mycelium encounters heterogeneous carbon sources. Here we assessed whether substrate heterogeneity is a major determinant of spatial gene expression in colonies of Aspergillus niger . We analyzed whole-genome gene expression in five concentric zones of 5-day-old colonies utilizing sugar beet pulp as a complex carbon source. Growth, protein production and secretion occurred throughout the colony. Genes involved in carbon catabolism were expressed uniformly from the centre to the periphery whereas genes encoding plant biomass degrading enzymes and nitrate utilization were expressed differentially across the colony. A combined adaptive response of carbon-catabolism and enzyme production to locally available monosaccharides was observed. Finally, our results demonstrate that A. niger employs different enzymatic tools to adapt its metabolism as it colonizes complex environments.
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These authors contributed equally to this work.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/srep13592