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Visualizing plant biomass degradation by Aspergillus niger


EMSL Project ID
48565

Abstract

Aspergillus niger is an ascomycete fungus with a long history of industrial use for the production of organic acids and enzymes. Its ability to degrade plant biomass has been well studied and it possesses a broad spectrum of plant biomass degrading enzymes. However, little attention has been given to visualization of growth of A. niger on plant biomass and the associated decay of the biomass.
We aim to use a variety of microscopic techniques to visualize the decay of wheat bran, a model plant biomass substrate, caused by growth of A. niger. We will use a wild type and several regulatory mutants that produce altered sets of plant biomass degrading enzymes.
To link the differences in the substrate decay by the different strains to the enzymes they produce during growth on wheat bran, we will also extract extracellular proteins from the cultures and analyze these using proteomics. These extracts will also be used for the analysis of enzyme activities and saccharification ability of wheat bran.
The combined data will reveal the pattern of substrate decay by A. niger. Using the mutant strains and analyzing the extracellular protein profiles, will enable us to identify the critical enzyme sets needed for efficient plant biomass degradation by this fungus. In light of the little information that is available on the visualization of plant biomass decay by industrially relevant fungi, this study will likely serve as a reference for plant biomass decay by other fungi.

Project Details

Project type
Special Science
Start Date
2014-10-15
End Date
2015-09-30
Status
Closed

Team

Principal Investigator

Ronald de Vries
Institution
Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute

Related Publications

Kowalczyk J.E., C. Khosravi, S.O. Purvine, A. Dohnalkova, W.B. Chrisler, G. Orr, and E.W. Robinson, et al. 2017. "High resolution visualization and exo-proteomics reveal the physiological role of XlnR and AraR in plant biomass colonization and degradation by Aspergillus niger." Environmental Microbiology 19, no. 11:4587-4598. PNNL-SA-134692. doi:10.1111/1462-2920.13923