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Overexpression of Aspergillus tubingensis faeA in protease-deficient Aspergillus niger enables ferulic acid production from plant material

  • Metabolic Engineering and Synthetic Biology
  • Published:
Journal of Industrial Microbiology & Biotechnology

Abstract

The production of ferulic acid esterase involved in the release of ferulic acid side groups from xylan was investigated in strains of Aspergillus tubingensis, Aspergillus carneus, Aspergillus niger and Rhizopus oryzae. The highest activity on triticale bran as sole carbon source was observed with the A. tubingensis T8.4 strain, which produced a type A ferulic acid esterase active against methyl p-coumarate, methyl ferulate and methyl sinapate. The activity of the A. tubingensis ferulic acid esterase (AtFAEA) was inhibited twofold by glucose and induced twofold in the presence of maize bran. An initial accumulation of endoglucanase was followed by the production of endoxylanase, suggesting a combined action with ferulic acid esterase on maize bran. A genomic copy of the A. tubingensis faeA gene was cloned and expressed in A. niger D15#26 under the control of the A. niger gpd promoter. The recombinant strain has reduced protease activity and does not acidify the media, therefore promoting high-level expression of recombinant enzymes. It produced 13.5 U/ml FAEA after 5 days on autoclaved maize bran as sole carbon source, which was threefold higher than for the A. tubingensis donor strain. The recombinant AtFAEA was able to extract 50 % of the available ferulic acid from non-pretreated maize bran, making this enzyme suitable for the biological production of ferulic acid from lignocellulosic plant material.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the South African National Energy Research Institute (SANERI), the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the National Research Foundation (NRF) for financial support. This work is based on the research supported in part by the National Research Foundation of South Africa (Grant 76597).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland, 7602, South Africa

    Eunice N. Zwane, Shaunita H. Rose, Willem H. van Zyl & Marinda Viljoen-Bloom

  2. School of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Private Bag X3, Johannesburg, 2050, South Africa

    Karl Rumbold

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  1. Eunice N. Zwane
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  2. Shaunita H. Rose
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  3. Willem H. van Zyl
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  5. Marinda Viljoen-Bloom
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Correspondence to Marinda Viljoen-Bloom.

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Zwane, E.N., Rose, S.H., van Zyl, W.H. et al. Overexpression of Aspergillus tubingensis faeA in protease-deficient Aspergillus niger enables ferulic acid production from plant material. J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol 41, 1027–1034 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10295-014-1430-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10295-014-1430-7

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