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Enhancing l-malate production of Aspergillus oryzae FMME218-37 by improving inorganic nitrogen utilization

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Abstract

Microbial l-malate production from renewable feedstock is a promising alternative to petroleum-based chemical synthesis. However, high l-malate production of Aspergillus oryzae was achieved to date using organic nitrogen, with inorganic nitrogen still unable to meet industrial applications. In the current study, we constructed a screening system and nitrogen supply strategy to improve l-malate production with ammonium sulphate [(NH4)2SO4] as the sole nitrogen source. First, we generated and identified a high-producing mutant FMME218-37, which stably boosted l-malate production from 30.73 to 78.12 g/L, using a combined screening system with morphological characteristics. Then, by analyzing the fermentation parameters and physiological characteristics, we further speculated the key factor was the unbalance of carbon and nitrogen absorption. Finally, the titer and productivity of l-malate was increased to 95.2 g/L and 0.57 g/(L h) by regulating the nitrogen supply module to balance carbon and nitrogen absorption, which represented the highest level in A. oryzae with (NH4)2SO4 as nitrogen source achieved to date. Moreover, our findings using a low-cost substrate may lead to building an economical cell factory of A. oryzae for l-malate production.

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Funding

This work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21676118, 21706095).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Road, Wuxi, 214122, China

    Qiang Ding, Qiuling Luo, Jie Zhou, Xiulai Chen & Liming Liu

  2. Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, China

    Qiang Ding, Qiuling Luo, Jie Zhou, Xiulai Chen & Liming Liu

  3. National Engineering Laboratory for Cereal Fermentation Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, China

    Qiang Ding, Qiuling Luo, Jie Zhou, Xiulai Chen & Liming Liu

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  1. Qiang Ding
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  2. Qiuling Luo
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  4. Xiulai Chen
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  5. Liming Liu
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Correspondence to Liming Liu.

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Ding, Q., Luo, Q., Zhou, J. et al. Enhancing l-malate production of Aspergillus oryzae FMME218-37 by improving inorganic nitrogen utilization. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 102, 8739–8751 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-018-9272-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-018-9272-2

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