
Aspergillus luchuensis is a kuro (black) koji fungus that has been used as a starch degrader for the awamori- and shochu-making industries in Japan. In this study, we investigated the effect of ion beam irradiation on A. luchuensis RIB2601 and obtained a high starch-degrading mutant strain U1. Strain U1 showed reduced growth rate, whereas it showed higher α-amylase, glucoamylase, and α-glucosidase activities on a mycelial mass basis than the wild type (wt) strain both on agar plates and in rice koji. In addition, strain U1 showed higher N-acetylglucosamine content in the cell wall and higher sensitivity to calcofluor white, suggesting a deficiency in cell wall composition. Interestingly, produced protein showed higher expression of acid-labile α-amylase (AmyA) and glucoamylase (GlaA) in strain U1, although real-time RT-PCR indicated no significant change in the transcription of the amyA or glaA gene. These results suggested that the high amylolytic activity of strain U1 is attributable to a high AmyA and GlaA production level, but the elevated production is not due to transcriptional regulation of the corresponding genes. Furthermore, RNA-seq analysis indicated that strain U1 shows transcriptional changes in at least 604 genes related to oxidation-reduction, transport, and glucosamine-containing compound metabolic processes, which may be involved in the deficient cell wall composition of strain U1.
Glycoside Hydrolases, Transcription, Genetic, Gene Expression Profiling, ion beam irradiation, Temperature, Starch, high amylolytic activity mutant, Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction, Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic, Acetylglucosamine, <i>Aspergillus luchuensis</i>, Fungal Proteins, Aspergillus, Mutation, kuro-koji fungus
Glycoside Hydrolases, Transcription, Genetic, Gene Expression Profiling, ion beam irradiation, Temperature, Starch, high amylolytic activity mutant, Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction, Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic, Acetylglucosamine, <i>Aspergillus luchuensis</i>, Fungal Proteins, Aspergillus, Mutation, kuro-koji fungus
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