Effects of nonionic surfactants on pellet formation and the production of ß-fructofuranosidases from Aspergillus oryzae KB.

Aspergillus oryzae KB produces two ß-fructofuranosidases (F1 and F2). F1 has high transferring activity and produces fructooligosaccharides from sucrose. Mycelial growth pellets were altered by the addition of Tween 20, 40 and 80 (HLB=16.7, 15.6 and 15.0, respectively) in liquid medium cultures to form small spherical pellets. The particle size of the pellets decreased with the HLB value, which corresponds to an increase in surfactant hydrophobicity. Selective F1 production and pellet size were maximized using Tween 20. Adding polyoxyethylene oleyl ethers (POEs) with various degrees of polymerization (2, 7, 10, 20 and 50: HLB=7.7, 10.7, 14.7, 17.2 and 18.2, respectively) was investigated. A minimum mean particle size was obtained using a POE with DP=10, HLB=14.7. The POE surfactants had little effect on the selective production of F1. The formation of filamentous pellets depended on the surfactant HLB value, and F1 enzymes were produced most efficiently using Tween 20.

[Characteristics of extracellular invertase of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in Heterologous expression of the suc2 gene in Solarium Tuberosum plants].

Some properties and activity of extracellular invertase in the Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeasts encoded by the suc2 gene in heterologous expression were described. It was shown that the target suc2 gene is actively expressed in the genome of the transformed potato plants and S. cerevisiae invertase synthesized by this gene is transported into the apoplast due to the signal peptide of the proteinase II inhibitor. This enzyme is present in the apoplast in a soluble form and absorbed into the cell wall.

Morphology engineering of Aspergillus niger for improved enzyme production.

Supplementation with silicate microparticles was used as novel approach to control the morphological development of Aspergillus niger, important as the major world source of citric acid and higher-value enzymes, in submerged culture. With careful variation of size and concentration of the micromaterial added, a number of distinct morphological forms including pellets of different size, free dispersed mycelium, and short hyphae fragments could be reproducibly created. Aluminum oxide particles similarly affected morphology, showing that this effect is largely independent of the chemical particle composition. Image analysis of morphological development of A. niger during the cultivation process showed that the microparticles influence the morphology by collision-induced disruption of conidia aggregates and probably also the hindrance of new spore-spore interactions in the very early stage of the process. Exemplified for different recombinant A. niger strains enzyme production could be strongly enhanced by the addition of microparticles. Linked to the formation of freely dispersed mycelium, titers for glucoamylase (GA) expressed as intracellular enzyme (88 U/mL) and fructofuranosidase secreted into the supernatant (77 U/mL), were up to fourfold higher in shake flasks. Moreover, accumulation of the undesired by-product oxalate was suppressed by up to 90%. The microparticle strategy could be successfully transferred to fructofuranosidase production in bioreactor, where a final titer of 160 U/mL could be reached. Using co-expression of GA with green fluorescent protein, enzyme production was localized in the cellular aggregates of A. niger. For pelleted growth, protein production was maximal only within a thin layer at the pellet surface and markedly decreased in the pellet interior, whereas the interaction with the microparticles created a highly active biocatalyst with the dominant fraction of cells contributing to production.

Added inositol regulates invertase secretion and glucose-repressed SUC2 gene expression in Saccharomyces sp. W4.

The effect of inositol supplementation on glucose derepression, invertase secretion and SUC2 gene expression in Saccharomyces sp. W4 was studied. Invertase secretion was repressed, when the yeast cells, grown the synthetic medium without inositol (I(-) medium) contained more than 0.2% (w/v) initial concentration of glucose. However, in the same medium plus inositol (I(+) medium, inositol conc. 100 microg/100 ml), invertase secretion was repressed only at glucose concentrations higher than 2.0% (w/v). Results showed that secreted invertase activity increased only in the I+ medium, whereas intracellular invertase activity remained constant in both media during the cell, growth. The mRNA encoding secreted invertase was higher in the glucose-derepressed cells grown in the I(+) medium than in the glucose-repressed cells grown in the I(-) medium. Similarly, phosphatidylinositol (PI) content was significantly higher in the cells grown in the I(+) medium than in the I(-) medium. These results indicated that PI might be involved in the glucose derepression, invertase secretion and SUC2 gene expression at the transcriptional level in the yeast.

The developmental and organ specific expression of sucrose cleaving enzymes in sugar beet suggests a transition between apoplasmic and symplasmic phloem unloading in the tap roots.

Sucrose utilisation in sink tissues depend on its cleavage and is mediated by two different classes of enzymes, invertase and sucrose synthase, which determine the mechanism of phloem unloading. Cloning of two extracellular (BIN35 and BIN46) and one vacuolar invertase (BIN44) provided the basis for a detailed molecular analysis of the relative contribution of the sucrose cleaving enzymes to the sink metabolism of sugar beets (Beta vulgaris) during development. The determination of the steady state levels of mRNAs has been complemented by the analysis of the corresponding enzyme activities. The present study demonstrates an inverse regulation of extracellular invertase and sucrose synthase during tap root development indicating a transition between functional unloading pathways. Extracellular cleavage by invertase is the dominating mechanism to supply hexoses via an apoplasmic pathway at early stages of storage root development. Only at later stages sucrose synthase takes over the function of the key sink enzyme to contribute to the sink strength of the tap root via symplasmic phloem unloading. Whereas mRNAs for both extracellular invertase BIN35 and sucrose synthase were shown to be induced by mechanical wounding of mature leaves of adult plants, only sucrose synthase mRNA was metabolically induced by glucose in this source organ supporting the metabolic flexibility of this species.

Tuber-specific expression of a yeast invertase and a bacterial glucokinase in potato leads to an activation of sucrose phosphate synthase and the creation of a sucrose futile cycle.

Fluxes were investigated in growing tubers from wild-type potato (Solanum tuberosum L. cv.Desiree) and from transformants expressing a yeast invertase in the cytosol under the control of the tuber-specific patatin promoter either alone (EC 3.2.1.26;U-IN2-30) or in combination with a Zymomonas mobilis glucokinase (EC 2.7.1.2; GK3-38) by supplying radiolabelled [14C]sucrose, [14C]glucose or [14C]fructose to tuber discs for a 90-min pulse and subsequent chase incubations of 4 and 12 h, and by supplying [14C]fructose for 2 h and 4 h to intact tubers attached to the mother plant. Contrary to the expectation that this novel route for sucrose degradation would promote starch synthesis,the starch content decreased in the transgenic lines.Labelling kinetics did not reveal whether this was due to changes in the fluxes into or out of starch. However,they demonstrated that glycolysis is enhanced in the transgenic lines in comparison to the wild type. There was also a significant stimulation of sucrose synthesis,leading to a rapid cycle of sucrose degradation and resynthesis. The labelling pattern indicated that sucrose phosphate synthase (SPS; EC 2.4.1.14) was responsible for the enhanced recycling of label into sucrose. In agreement, there was a 4-fold and 6-fold increase in the activation status of SPS in U-IN2-30 and GK3-38,respectively, and experiments with protein phosphatase inhibitors indicated that this activation involves enhanced dephosphorylation of SPS. It is proposed that this activation of SPS is promoted by the elevated glucose 6-phosphate levels in the transgenic tubers.These results indicate the pitfalls of metabolic engineering without a full appreciation of the metabolic system and regulatory circuits present in the tissue under investigation.

Combined expression of glucokinase and invertase in potato tubers leads to a dramatic reduction in starch accumulation and a stimulation of glycolysis.

The original aim of this work was to increase starch accumulation in potato tubers by enhancing their capacity to metabolise sucrose.We previously reported that specific expression of a yeast invertase in the cytosol of tubers led to a 95% reduction in sucrose content, but that this was accompanied by a larger accumulation of glucose and a reduction in starch. In the present paper we introduced a bacterial glucokinase from Zymomonas mobilis into an invertase-expressing transgenic line, with the intention of bringing the glucose into metabolism. Transgenic lines were obtained with up to threefold more glucokinase activity than in the parent invertase line and which did not accumulate glucose. Unexpectedly, there was a further dramatic reduction in starch content, down to 35% of wild-type levels. Biochemical analysis of growing tuber tissue revealed large increases in the metabolic intermediates of glycolysis, organic acids and amino acids,two- to threefold increases in the maximum catalytic activities of key enzymes in the respiratory pathways, and three- to fivefold increases in carbon dioxide production.These changes occur in the lines expressing invertase,and are accentuated following introduction of the second transgene, glucokinase. We conclude that the expression of invertase in potato tubers leads to an increased flux through the glycolytic pathway at the expense of starch synthesis and that heterologous overexpression of glucokinase enhances this change in partitioning.