Dataset Information

Degeneration of penicillin production in ethanol-limited chemostat cultivations of Penicillium chrysogenum: A systems biology approach.

ABSTRACT:

Background

In microbial production of non-catabolic products such as antibiotics a loss of production capacity upon long-term cultivation (for example chemostat), a phenomenon called strain degeneration, is often observed. In this study a systems biology approach, monitoring changes from gene to produced flux, was used to study degeneration of penicillin production in a high producing Penicillium chrysogenum strain during prolonged ethanol-limited chemostat cultivations.

Results

During these cultivations, the biomass specific penicillin production rate decreased more than 10-fold in less than 22 generations. No evidence was obtained for a decrease of the copy number of the penicillin gene cluster, nor a significant down regulation of the expression of the penicillin biosynthesis genes. However, a strong down regulation of the biosynthesis pathway of cysteine, one of the precursors of penicillin, was observed. Furthermore the protein levels of the penicillin pathway enzymes L-α-(δ-aminoadipyl)-L-α-cystenyl-D-α-valine synthetase (ACVS) and isopenicillin-N synthase (IPNS), decreased significantly. Re-cultivation of fully degenerated cells in unlimited batch culture and subsequent C-limited chemostats did only result in a slight recovery of penicillin production.

Conclusions

Our findings indicate that the observed degeneration is attributed to a significant decrease of the levels of the first two enzymes of the penicillin biosynthesis pathway, ACVS and IPNS. This decrease is not caused by genetic instability of the penicillin amplicon, neither by down regulation of the penicillin biosynthesis pathway. Furthermore no indications were obtained for degradation of these enzymes as a result of autophagy. Possible causes for the decreased enzyme levels could be a decrease of the translation efficiency of ACVS and IPNS during degeneration, or the presence of a culture variant impaired in the biosynthesis of functional proteins of these enzymes, which outcompeted the high producing part of the population.

SUBMITTER: Douma RD

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3224390 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Degeneration of penicillin production in ethanol-limited chemostat cultivations of Penicillium chrysogenum: A systems biology approach.

Douma Rutger D RD Batista Joana M JM Touw Kai M KM Kiel Jan A K W JA Krikken Arjen M AM Zhao Zheng Z Veiga Tânia T Klaassen Paul P Bovenberg Roel A L RA Daran Jean-Marc JM Heijnen Joseph J JJ van Gulik Walter M WM

BMC systems biology 20110819

<h4>Background</h4>In microbial production of non-catabolic products such as antibiotics a loss of production capacity upon long-term cultivation (for example chemostat), a phenomenon called strain degeneration, is often observed. In this study a systems biology approach, monitoring changes from gene to produced flux, was used to study degeneration of penicillin production in a high producing Penicillium chrysogenum strain during prolonged ethanol-limited chemostat cultivations.<h4>Results</h4>D ...[more]

PMID: 21854586

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Project description:The multi-component global regulator Velvet complex has been identified as a key regulator of secondary metabolite production in Aspergillus and Penicillium species. Previous work indicated a massive impact of PcvelA and PclaeA deletions, two key components of the Velvet complex, on penicillin production in prolonged batch cultures of P. chrysogenum, as well as substantial changes in transcriptome. The present study investigates the impact of these mutations on product formation and genome-wide transcript profiles under glucose-limited, aerobic conditions, relevant for industrial production of ?-lactams. The gene-deletion cassette for PcvelA or PclaeA was integrated in a hdfA mutant of the penicillin high-producing strain P. chrysogenum DS17690. Predicted amino acid sequences of PcVelA and PcLaeA in this strain were identical to those in its ancestor Wisconsin54-1255. Controls were performed to rule out transformation-associated loss of penicillin-biosynthesis clusters which, in preliminary studies, led to a massive reduction of penicillin production in a PcvelA deletion mutant. The correct PcvelA and PclaeA deletion strains revealed a significant (up to 30 %) reduction of penicillin-G productivity relative to the reference strain, which is a much smaller reduction than previously reported for prolonged batch cultures of P. chrysogenum strains. Chemostat-based transcriptome analysis yielded only 23 genes with a consistent response in the PcvelA? and PclaeA? mutants when grown in the absence of the penicillin-G side-chain precursor phenylacetic acid. 11 of these genes belonged to two small gene clusters (with 5 and 6 genes, respectively), one of which contains a gene with high homology to an aristolochene synthase. These results provide a clear caveat that the impact of the Velvet complex on secondary metabolism in filamentous fungi may be strongly context dependent Previous studies on the impact of the Velvet complex in P. chrysogenum were performed in prolonged batch cultures. Time course analysis revealed that the impact of PcvelA and PclaeA mutations was most pronounced after prolonged incubation {Hoff, 2010 6 /id}, but the physiological status of these cultures was not precisely defined. Industrial production of ?-lactam antibiotics is performed in sugar-limited, aerobic fed-batch cultures {Menezes, 1994 76 /id}. The aim of the present study is to investigate the impact of the Velvet complex on physiology, penicilllin production and transcriptional regulation under industrially relevant conditions. To this end, we studied the impact of PcvelA and PclaeA deletions in aerobic, glucose-limited chemostat cultures of the penicillin high-producing strain P. chrysogenum DS17690.

Dataset Information

Degeneration of penicillin production in ethanol-limited chemostat cultivations of Penicillium chrysogenum: A systems biology approach.

Background

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Degeneration of penicillin production in ethanol-limited chemostat cultivations of Penicillium chrysogenum: A systems biology approach.

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