Co-cultivations of fungi improve the production of specific enzymes

Isabelle Benoit, Hu Honglí, J. Van Den Brink, Birgit Gruben, H. Wosten, R. De Vries

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademic

Abstract

During their natural life cycle most fungi encounter other microorganisms and live in mixed communities with complex interactions, such as symbiosis or competition. Industrial fermentations, on purpose or by accident, can also result in mixed cultures. Fungal co-cultivations have been previously described for the production of specific enzymes, however, little is known about the interactions between two species that are grown together. A. niger and A. oryzae are two of the most important industrial fungi worldwide and both have a long history of strain improvement to optimize enzyme and metabolite production. Co-cultivation of these two Aspergilli with each other and with the ascomycete phytopathogen Magnaporthe grisea, and the basidiomycete white rot fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium, has recently been described by our group (Hu et al, 2010). Total secreted protein, enzymatic activities related to plant biomass degradation and growth phenotype were analyzed from cultures on wheat bran demonstrating positive effects of the co-cultivation compared to the individual cultivations. In a follow-up study the morphology and mechanism of the interaction if currently studied. Data from the paper and follow-up studies will be presented.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)126
Number of pages1
JournalActa Microbiologica et Immunologica Hungarica
Volume58
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2011

Keywords

  • enzyme
  • protein
  • fungus
  • microbiology
  • society
  • follow up
  • strain improvement
  • metabolite
  • Aspergillus
  • Ascomycetes
  • Magnaporthe grisea
  • Basidiomycetes
  • white rot fungus
  • Phanerochaete
  • enzyme activity
  • plant
  • biomass
  • phenotype
  • wheat bran
  • morphology
  • life cycle
  • microorganism
  • community
  • competition
  • fermentation
  • accident
  • mixed cell culture
  • species
  • Niger
  • symbiosis

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Co-cultivations of fungi improve the production of specific enzymes'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this