Co-cultivation of Aspergillus nidulans Recombinant Strains Produces an Enzymatic Cocktail as Alternative to Alkaline Sugarcane Bagasse Pretreatment.

Plant materials represent a strategic energy source because they can give rise to sustainable biofuels through the fermentation of their carbohydrates. A clear example of a plant-derived biofuel resource is the sugar cane bagasse exhibiting 60-80% of fermentable sugars in its composition. However, the current methods of plant bioconversion employ severe and harmful chemical/physical pretreatments raising biofuel cost production and environmental degradation. Replacing these methods with co-cultivated enzymatic cocktails is an alternative. Here we propose a pretreatment for sugarcane bagasse using a multi-enzymatic cocktail from the co-cultivation of four Aspergillus nidulans recombinant strains. The co-cultivation resulted in the simultaneous production of GH51 arabinofuranosidase (AbfA), GH11 endo-1,4-xylanase (XlnA), GH43 endo-1,5-arabinanase (AbnA) and GH12 xyloglucan specific endo-ß-1,4-glucanase (XegA). This core set of recombinant enzymes was more efficient than the alternative alkaline method in maintaining the cellulose integrity and exposing this cellulose to the following saccharification process. Thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis revealed residual byproducts on the alkali pretreated biomass, which were not found in the enzymatic pretreatment. Therefore, the enzymatic pretreatment was residue-free and seemed to be more efficient than the applied alkaline method, which makes it suitable for bioethanol production.

Genomics review of holocellulose deconstruction by aspergilli.

SUMMARY: Biomass is constructed of dense recalcitrant polymeric materials: proteins, lignin, and holocellulose, a fraction constituting fibrous cellulose wrapped in hemicellulose-pectin. Bacteria and fungi are abundant in soil and forest floors, actively recycling biomass mainly by extracting sugars from holocellulose degradation. Here we review the genome-wide contents of seven Aspergillus species and unravel hundreds of gene models encoding holocellulose-degrading enzymes. Numerous apparent gene duplications followed functional evolution, grouping similar genes into smaller coherent functional families according to specialized structural features, domain organization, biochemical activity, and genus genome distribution. Aspergilli contain about 37 cellulase gene models, clustered in two mechanistic categories: 27 hydrolyze and 10 oxidize glycosidic bonds. Within the oxidative enzymes, we found two cellobiose dehydrogenases that produce oxygen radicals utilized by eight lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases that oxidize glycosidic linkages, breaking crystalline cellulose chains and making them accessible to hydrolytic enzymes. Among the hydrolases, six cellobiohydrolases with a tunnel-like structural fold embrace single crystalline cellulose chains and cooperate at nonreducing or reducing end termini, splitting off cellobiose. Five endoglucanases group into four structural families and interact randomly and internally with cellulose through an open cleft catalytic domain, and finally, seven extracellular ß-glucosidases cleave cellobiose and related oligomers into glucose. Aspergilli contain, on average, 30 hemicellulase and 7 accessory gene models, distributed among 9 distinct functional categories: the backbone-attacking enzymes xylanase, mannosidase, arabinase, and xyloglucanase, the short-side-chain-removing enzymes xylan α-1,2-glucuronidase, arabinofuranosidase, and xylosidase, and the accessory enzymes acetyl xylan and feruloyl esterases.

A novel thermostable xylanase GH10 from Malbranchea pulchella expressed in Aspergillus nidulans with potential applications in biotechnology.

BACKGROUND: The search for novel thermostable xylanases for industrial use has intensified in recent years, and thermophilic fungi are a promising source of useful enzymes. The present work reports the heterologous expression and biochemical characterization of a novel thermostable xylanase (GH10) from the thermophilic fungus Malbranchea pulchella, the influence of glycosylation on its stability, and a potential application in sugarcane bagasse hydrolysis. RESULTS: Xylanase MpXyn10A was overexpressed in Aspergillus nidulans and was active against birchwood xylan, presenting an optimum activity at pH 5.8 and 80°C. MpXyn10A was 16% glycosylated and thermostable, preserving 85% activity after 24 hours at 65°C, and deglycosylation did not affect thermostability. Circular dichroism confirmed the high alpha-helical content consistent with the canonical GH10 family (ß/α)8 barrel fold observed in molecular modeling. Primary structure analysis revealed the existence of eight cysteine residues which could be involved in four disulfide bonds, and this could explain the high thermostability of this enzyme even in the deglycosylated form. MpXyn10A showed promising results in biomass degradation, increasing the amount of reducing sugars in bagasse in natura and in three pretreated sugarcane bagasses. CONCLUSIONS: MpXyn10A was successfully secreted in Aspergillus nidulans, and a potential use for sugarcane bagasse biomass degradation was demonstrated.

High-yield secretion of multiple client proteins in Aspergillus.

Production of pure and high-yield client proteins is an important technology that addresses the need for industrial applications of enzymes as well as scientific experiments in protein chemistry and crystallization. Fungi are utilized in industrial protein production because of their ability to secrete large quantities of proteins. In this study, we engineered a high-expression-secretion vector, pEXPYR that directs proteins towards the extracellular medium in two Aspergillii host strains, examine the effect of maltose-induced over-expression and protein secretion as well as time and pH-dependent protein stability in the medium. We describe five client proteins representing a core set of hemicellulose degrading enzymes that accumulated up to 50-100 mg/L of protein. Using a recyclable genetic marker that allows serial insertion of multiple genes, simultaneous hyper-secretion of three client proteins in a single host strain was accomplished.