Project description:Enzymatic conversion of chitin, a ?-1,4 linked polymer of N-acetylglucosamine, is of major interest in areas varying from the biorefining of chitin-rich waste streams to understanding how medically relevant fungi remodel their chitin-containing cell walls. Although numerous chitinolytic enzymes have been studied in detail, relatively little is known about enzymes capable of deacetylating chitin. We describe the structural and functional characterization of a 237 residue deacetylase (AnCDA) from Aspergillus nidulans FGSC A4. AnCDA acts on chito-oligomers, crystalline chitin, chitosan, and acetylxylan, but not on peptidoglycan. The K m and k cat of AnCDA for the first deacetylation of penta-N-acetyl-chitopentaose are 72?µM and 1.4?s-1, respectively. Combining mass spectrometry and analyses of acetate release, it was shown that AnCDA catalyses mono-deacetylation of (GlcNAc)2 and full deacetylation of (GlcNAc)3-6 in a non-processive manner. Deacetylation of the reducing end sugar was much slower than deacetylation of the other sugars in chito-oligomers. These enzymatic characteristics are discussed in the light of the crystal structure of AnCDA, providing insight into how the chitin deacetylase may interact with its substrates. Interestingly, AnCDA activity on crystalline chitin was enhanced by a lytic polysaccharide monooxygenase that increases substrate accessibility by oxidative cleavage of the chitin chains.
Project description:Investigation of whole genome gene expression level changes in Aspergillus nidulans AN1599 (PbcR) overexpression mutant, compared to the FGSC A4 wild-type strain. Overexpression of the Zn(II)2Cys6 M-bM-^@M-^Stype transcription factor, AN1599.4 (PbcR, pimaradiene biosynthetic cluster regulator), activates a secondary metabolite gene cluster in Aspergillus nidulans. Activation of the pathway in Aspergillus nidulans lead to a production of ent-pimara-8(14),15-diene. 12x135K array of two separate cultures of FGSC A4 and two separate cultures of oe:AN1599(PbcR) with three separate RNA extractions from each culture. Each 135K array measures expression level of 10,546 genes with 6 probes/transcript. In addition, the array format contains tiling probes for 36 longer transcripts. All probes are in duplicates, giving the total number of 137,562 probes per array.
Project description:Investigation of whole genome gene expression level changes in Aspergillus nidulans AN1599 (PbcR) overexpression mutant, compared to the FGSC A4 wild-type strain. Overexpression of the Zn(II)2Cys6 –type transcription factor, AN1599.4 (PbcR, pimaradiene biosynthetic cluster regulator), activates a secondary metabolite gene cluster in Aspergillus nidulans. Activation of the pathway in Aspergillus nidulans lead to a production of ent-pimara-8(14),15-diene.