Fungal infection and ochratoxin A (OTA) contamination were determined in green coffee samples from different origins, in which OTA-producing fungi were also identified. About 72% of the beans analysed by direct plating presented fungal infection, including species of Aspergillus, Penicillium and Rhizopus. The genus Aspergillus was presented in more than 90% of infected coffee beans. Aspergillus ochraceus and Aspergillus section Nigri isolates represented 2.8 and 65.4%, respectively from the total number of isolates from the coffee beans. The capacity to produce OTA was determined in 260 isolates of A. section Nigri and 19 of A. ochraceus by the agar plug method, giving positive results for 6% of the A. section Nigri isolates and 16% of the A. ochraceus. OTA production was analysed by high performance liquid chromatography. OTA contamination of green coffee beans was analysed by enzyme immunoassay. OTA levels in all samples analysed were above the limit of detection (0.6 mg/kg), with a mean OTA concentration of 6.7 mg/kg.

This paper reports the results from an extensive survey of filamentous fungi isolated from wine-producing grapes and their capacity to produce ochratoxin A (OTA) on Czapek Yeast Autolysate agar (CYA), in order to assess their potential for producing this toxin in grapes. Grapes were sampled from four Spanish wine-producing regions during 2001. The fungal infection in berries increased with time, reaching 100% at harvest. A total of 386 isolates of Aspergillus section Nigri and 10 of Aspergillus section Circumdati were isolated and tested for their ability to produce OTA in CYA. 21 strains produced OTA (18 Aspergillus section Nigri and 3 Aspergillus section Circumdati). Aspergillus section Circumdati isolates produced higher amounts of OTA than Aspergillus section Nigri ones, with means of 10.76 µg g −1 CYA and 1.42 µg g −1 CYA, respectively. Despite this, black aspergilli are believed to be highly responsible for the OTA levels found in musts and wines, as it is more widespread in grapes. Musts (n = 40) produced from the grapes collected were analysed. 15% were found to contain OTA, concentrations ranging from 0.091 to 0.813 ng ml −1 (detection limit: 0.07 ng ml −1 ), but no correlation was found with the ochratoxigenic moulds isolated from grapes.

BackgroundLittle is known about the structure and regulation of fungal α-L-rhamnosidase genes despite increasing interest in the biotechnological potential of the enzymes that they encode. Whilst the paradigmatic filamentous fungus Aspergillus nidulans growing on L-rhamnose produces an α-L-rhamnosidase suitable for oenological applications, at least eight genes encoding putative α-L-rhamnosidases have been found in its genome. In the current work we have identified the gene (rhaE) encoding the former activity, and characterization of its expression has revealed a novel regulatory mechanism. A shared pattern of expression has also been observed for a second α-L-rhamnosidase gene, (AN10277/rhaA).ResultsAmino acid sequence data for the oenological α-L-rhamnosidase were determined using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry and correspond to the amino acid sequence deduced from AN7151 (rhaE). The cDNA of rhaE was expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and yielded pNP-rhamnohydrolase activity. Phylogenetic analysis has revealed this eukaryotic α-L-rhamnosidase to be the first such enzyme found to be more closely related to bacterial rhamnosidases than other α-L-rhamnosidases of fungal origin. Northern analyses of diverse A. nidulans strains cultivated under different growth conditions indicate that rhaA and rhaE are induced by L-rhamnose and repressed by D-glucose as well as other carbon sources, some of which are considered to be non-repressive growth substrates. Interestingly, the transcriptional repression is independent of the wide domain carbon catabolite repressor CreA. Gene induction and glucose repression of these rha genes correlate with the uptake, or lack of it, of the inducing carbon source L-rhamnose, suggesting a prominent role for inducer exclusion in repression.ConclusionsThe A. nidulans rhaE gene encodes an α-L-rhamnosidase phylogenetically distant to those described in filamentous fungi, and its expression is regulated by a novel CreA-independent mechanism. The identification of rhaE and the characterization of its regulation will facilitate the design of strategies to overproduce the encoded enzyme - or homologs from other fungi - for industrial applications. Moreover, A. nidulans α-L-rhamnosidase encoding genes could serve as prototypes for fungal genes coding for plant cell wall degrading enzymes regulated by a novel mechanism of CCR.

Linalool production was evaluated in different Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains expressing the Clarkia breweri linalool synthase gene (LIS). The wine strain T 73 was shown to produce higher levels of linalool than conventional laboratory strains (i.e., almost three times the amount). The performance of this strain was further enhanced by manipulating the endogenous mevalonate (MVA) pathway: deregulated overexpression of the rate-limiting 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (HMG-CoA reductase) doubled linalool production. In a haploid laboratory strain, engineering of this key step also improved linalool yield.Monoterpenes are a class of isoprenoids of increasing industrial and clinical interest usually produced by plants. They are used as aromatic additives in the food and cosmetics industries and are also important components in wine aroma. Moreover, certain monoterpenes display antimicrobial, antiparasitic, and antiviral properties as well as a plethora of promising health benefits (for recent reviews, see references 2, 7, 15, 28, and 30 and references cited therein). To date, many studies have focused on plant metabolic engineering of monoterpene production (for selected reviews, see references 1, 14, 19, 29, and 35 and references cited therein), and few studies have been carried out on microorganisms (9,21,22,34,38). Efficient microbial production of these metabolites could provide an alternative to the current methods of chemical synthesis or extraction from natural sources. In this regard, a considerable number of studies have shown the utility of Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a valuable platform for sesquiterpene, diterpene, triterpene, and carotene production (references 5, 10, 23, 26, 30, 31, 32, and 33 and references cited therein). However, all the efforts dedicated to the improvement of isoprenoid yields in S. cerevisiae have been performed using conventional laboratory strains, and there are no studies concerning natural or industrially relevant isolates.In recent years, many genes that encode plant monoterpene synthases (MTS), a family of enzymes which specifically catalyze the conversion of the ubiquitous C 10 intermediate of isoprenoid biosynthesis geranyl pyrophosphate (GPP) to monoterpenes, have been characterized. Such is the case with the LIS gene (codes for S-linalool synthase) of Clarkia breweri, the first MTS-encoding gene to be isolated (13). In contrast to plants, S. cerevisiae cannot produce monoterpenes efficiently, mainly due to the lack of specific pathways involving MTS. However, GPP is formed as a transitory intermediate in the two-step synthesis of farnesyl pyrophosphate (FPP), catalyzed by FPP synthase (FPPS) (Fig. 1), and some natural S. cerevisiae strains have been shown to possess the ability to produce small amounts of monoterpenes (8). Whether this occurs through unspecific dephosphorylation of a more available endogenous pool of GPP and subsequent bioconversions is not known. In addition, it has recently been established that S. cerevisiae has enough free GPP to...