Xylose transport studies with xylose-utilizing Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains expressing heterologous and homologous permeases

In the present study, we modified xylose uptake properties of a recombinant xylose-utilizing yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae by expression of heterologous and homologous permease-encoding genes. In a mutant yeast strain with the main seven hexose transporter genes deleted, and engineered for xylose utilization, we screened an expression cDNA library of the filamentous fungus Trichoderma reesei (Hypocrea jecorina) for enhanced growth on xylose plates. One cDNA clone with significant homology to fungal sugar transporters was obtained, but when the clone was retransformed into the host, it did not support significant growth on xylose. However, during a long liquid culture of the strain carrying the cDNA clone, adaptive mutations apparently occurred in the host, which led to growth on xylose but not on glucose. The new transporter homologue, Trxlt1 thus appears to code for a protein specific for xylose uptake. In addition, xylose-transporting properties of some homologous hexose transporters were studied. All of them, i.e., Hxt1, Hxt2, Hxt4, and Hxt7 were capable of xylose uptake. Their affinities for xylose varied, K (m) values between 130 and 900 mM were observed. The single-Hxt strains showed a biphasic growth mode on xylose, alike the Trxlt1 harboring strain. The initial, slow growth was followed by a long lag and finally by exponential growth.

ACEI of Trichoderma reesei is a repressor of cellulase and xylanase expression

We characterized the effect of deletion of the Trichoderma reesei (Hypocrea jecorina) ace1 gene encoding the novel cellulase regulator ACEI that was isolated based on its ability to bind to and activate in vivo in Saccharomyces cerevisiae the promoter of the main cellulase gene, cbh1. Deletion of ace1 resulted in an increase in the expression of all the main cellulase genes and two xylanase genes in sophorose- and cellulose-induced cultures, indicating that ACEI acts as a repressor of cellulase and xylanase expression. Growth of the strain with a deletion of the ace1 gene on different carbon sources was analyzed. On cellulose-based medium, on which cellulases are needed for growth, the Deltaace1 strain grew better than the host strain due to the increased cellulase production. On culture media containing sorbitol as the sole carbon source, the growth of the strain with a deletion of the ace1 gene was severely impaired, suggesting that ACEI regulates expression of other genes in addition to cellulase and xylanase genes. A strain with a deletion of the ace1 gene and with a deletion of the ace2 gene coding for the cellulase and xylanase activator ACEII expressed cellulases and xylanases similar to the Deltaace1 strain, indicating that yet another activator regulating cellulase and xylanase promoters was present.

ACEII, a novel transcriptional activator involved in regulation of cellulase and xylanase genes of Trichoderma reesei

A novel yeast-based method to isolate transcriptional activators was applied to clone regulators binding to the cellulase promoter cbh1 of the filamentous fungus Trichoderma reesei (Hypocrea jecorina). This led to the isolation of the cellulase activator ace2 encoding for a protein belonging to the class of zinc binuclear cluster proteins found exclusively in fungi. The DNA-binding domain of ACEII was expressed as a glutathione S-transferase fusion protein in Escherichia coli, and ACEII was shown to bind in vitro to the 5'-GGCTAATAA site present in the cbh1 promoter. This site also contains the proposed binding sequence of the xylanase activator XlnR of Aspergillus niger. Mutation of the GGC triplet abolished ACEII binding. The function of ACEII was studied by analyzing the effects of ace2 deletion in the hypercellulolytic T. reesei strain ALKO2221. Deletion of the ace2 gene led to lowered induction kinetics of mRNAs encoding the major cellulases cellobiohydrolases I and II and endoglucanases I and II and to 30-70% reduced cellulase activity when the fungus was grown on medium containing Solka floc cellulose. The expression level of the gene encoding xylanase was also affected. ace2 deletion led to lowered xyn2 expression in cellulose-induced cultivation. Cellulase induction by sophorose was not affected by ace2 deletion.

Isolation of the ace1 gene encoding a Cys(2)-His(2) transcription factor involved in regulation of activity of the cellulase promoter cbh1 of Trichoderma reesei

A genetic selection method was developed for the cloning of positive-acting transcriptional regulatory genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The method was applied for the isolation of activators of Trichoderma reesei (Hypocrea jecorina) cellulase genes. Activator genes were isolated from a T. reesei expression cDNA library on the basis of the ability of their translation products to activate transcription from the full-length T. reesei cbh1 promoter coupled to the S. cerevisiae HIS3 gene and to support the growth of the yeast colonies in the absence of histidine. Among the clones obtained was the ace1 gene encoding a novel polypeptide, ACEI, that contains three zinc finger motifs of Cys(2)-His(2) type. Possible ACEI homologues were found among expressed sequence tags of Aspergillus and Neurospora. The ability of ACEI to bind to the cbh1 promoter was further confirmed in the yeast one-hybrid system. In vitro binding and gel mobility shift assays revealed several binding sites for the ACEI protein in the cbh1 promoter. Disruption of the ace1 gene in T. reesei resulted in retarded growth of the fungus on a cellulose-containing medium, on which cellulases are normally highly expressed.

Regulation of cellulase gene expression in the filamentous fungus Trichoderma reesei

Basic features of regulation of expression of the genes encoding the cellulases of the filamentous fungus Trichoderma reesei QM9414, the genes cbh1 and cbh2 encoding cellobiohydrolases and the genes egl1, egl2 and egl5 encoding endoglucanases, were studied at the mRNA level. The cellulase genes were coordinately expressed under all conditions studied, with the steady-state mRNA levels of cbh1 being the highest. Solka floc cellulose and the disaccharide sophorose induced expression to almost the same level. Moderate expression was observed when cellobiose or lactose was used as the carbon source. It was found that glycerol and sorbitol do not promote expression but, unlike glucose, do not inhibit it either, because the addition of 1 to 2 mM sophorose to glycerol or sorbitol cultures provokes high cellulase expression levels. These carbon sources thus provide a useful means to study cellulase regulation without significantly affecting the growth of the fungus. RNA slot blot experiments showed that no expression could be observed on glucose-containing medium and that high glucose levels abolish the inducing effect of sophorose. The results clearly show that distinct and clear-cut mechanisms of induction and glucose repression regulate cellulase expression in an actively growing fungus. However, derepression of cellulase expression occurs without apparent addition of an inducer once glucose has been depleted from the medium. This expression seems not to arise simply from starvation, since the lack of carbon or nitrogen as such is not sufficient to trigger significant expression.

Cloning and expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae of a Trichoderma reesei beta-mannanase gene containing a cellulose binding domain

beta-Mannanase (endo-1,4-beta-mannanase; mannan endo-1,4-beta-mannosidase; EC 3.2.1.78) catalyzes endo-wise hydrolysis of the backbone of mannan and heteromannans, including hemicellulose polysaccharides, which are among the major components of plant cell walls. The gene man1, which encodes beta-mannanase, of the filamentous fungus Trichoderma reesei was isolated from an expression library by using antiserum raised towards the earlier-purified beta-mannanase protein. The deduced beta-mannanase consists of 410 amino acids. On the basis of hydrophobic cluster analysis, the beta-mannanase was assigned to family 5 of glycosyl hydrolases (cellulase family A). The C terminus of the beta-mannanase has strong amino acid sequence similarity to the cellulose binding domains of fungal cellulases and is preceded by a serine-, threonine-, and proline-rich region. Consequently, the beta-mannanase is probably organized similarly to the T. reesei cellulases, having a catalytic core domain separated from the substrate-binding domain by an O-glycosylated linker. Active beta-mannanase was expressed and secreted by using the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae as the host. The results indicate that the man1 gene encodes the two beta-mannanases with different isoelectric points (pIs 4.6 and 5.4) purified earlier from T. reesei.

A novel, small endoglucanase gene, egl5, from Trichoderma reesei isolated by expression in yeast

A method is presented for the isolation of genes encoding hydrolytic enzymes without any knowledge of the corresponding proteins. cDNA made from the organism of interest is cloned into a yeast vector to construct an expression library in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Colonies producing hydrolytic enzymes are screened by activity plate assays. In this work, we constructed a yeast expression library from the filamentous fungus Trichoderma reesei and isolated a new beta-1,4-endoglucanase gene on plates containing beta-glucan. This gene, egl5, codes for a previously unknown small protein of 242 amino acids. Despite its small size, the protein contains two conservative domains found in Trichoderma cellulases, namely the cellulose-binding domain (CBD) and the linker region that connects the CBD to the catalytic core domain. Molecular modelling of the EGV CBD revealed some interesting structural differences compared to the CBD of the major cellulase CBHI from T. reesei. The catalytic core of EGV is unusually small for a cellulase and represents a new family of cellulases (Family K) and of glycosyl hydrolases (Family 45) together with the endoglucanase B of Pseudomonas fluorescens and the endoglucanase V of Humicola insolens on the basis of hydrophobic cluster analysis.

Efficient production of antibody fragments by the filamentous fungus Trichoderma reesei

We have engineered the filamentous fungus Trichoderma reesei to assemble and secrete immunologically authentic engineered Fab antibody fragments into the culture medium. A major improvement in yield was achieved by fusing the heavy Fd chain to the T. reesei cellulase, CBHI. The yields of secreted, immunologically active Fab and CBHI-Fab fusion were 1 mg/l and 150 mg/l, respectively. The Fab fragment can be released from the fusion protein CBHI-Fab by an extracellular T. reesei protease. There was no detectable difference in affinity for the antigen between the engineered Fab and the idiotypic antibody.

Promoter structure and expression of the 3-phosphoglycerate kinase-encoding gene (pgk1) of Trichoderma reesei

Transcription of the 3-phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK)-encoding gene (pgk1) of Trichoderma reesei results in two transcripts due to two main transcription start points (tsp) which are differentially regulated during the growth cycle. The nucleotide sequence of the promoter reveals a number of putative regulatory elements present also in the PGK promoter of Saccharomyces cerevisiae: a 20-nt long sequence similar to the CTTCC-repeat region of the upstream activating sequence UAS, the eukaryotic heat-shock consensus sequence, HSE, and a putative eukaryotic cAMP regulatory sequence. The functionality of the putative HSE sequence was examined, but no clear effect could be seen on the total amount of pgk1 mRNA at elevated temperatures nor on transcription initiation from the upstream tsp, preceded by the HSE sequence.