Colonies of the fungus Aspergillus niger are highly differentiated to adapt to local carbon source variation

Abstract

Summary Saprobic fungi, such as Aspergillus niger, grow as colonies consisting of a network of branching and fusing hyphae that are often considered to be relatively uniform entities in which nutrients can freely move through the hyphae. In nature, different parts of a colony are often exposed to different nutrients. We have investigated, using a multi‐omics approach, adaptation of A. niger colonies to spatially separated and compositionally different plant biomass substrates. This demonstrated a high level of intra‐colony differentiation, which closely matched the locally available substrate. The part of the colony exposed to pectin‐rich sugar beet pulp and to xylan‐rich wheat bran showed high pectinolytic and high xylanolytic transcript and protein levels respectively. This study therefore exemplifies the high ability of fungal colonies to differentiate and adapt to local conditions, ensuring efficient use of the available nutrients, rather than maintaining a uniform physiology throughout the colony.

Fouling Resistance and Release Properties of Poly(sulfobetaine) Brushes with Varying Alkyl Chain Spacer Lengths and Molecular Weights

“…This idea is supported by prior reports indicating that the hydration ability of polyzwitterionic brushes in the wet state was independent of CSL . More speculatively, steric hindrance from the polymer brushes , may have prevented fungi from accessing the paper substrate. , Fungi that were unable to enzymatically degrade the substrate (for food) may have formed weaker biofilms that, in turn, were more readily released after rinsing.…”

“…7 More speculatively, steric hindrance from the polymer brushes 61,62 may have prevented fungi from accessing the paper substrate. 63,64 Fungi that were unable to enzymatically degrade the substrate (for food 65 ) may have formed weaker biofilms that, in turn, were more readily released after rinsing.…”

Heterogeneous Distribution of Phospholipid Molecular Species in the Surface Culture of Flammulina velutipes: New Facts about Lipids Containing α-Linolenic Fatty Acid

“…During the last three decades, a number of studies have demonstrated different levels of heterogeneity in solid or even liquid fungal cultures, particularly between microcolonies known as pellets in liquid culture, peripheral and central zones of the colony in surface culture, neighboring hyphae within a zone and even between compartments of a single hypha (for review see [ 1 , 2 ]). Fungal mycelium is heterogeneous in growth, gene expression, biosynthesis, and secretion of proteins and metabolites [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]. For instance, the most active hyphal growth and protein secretion (expression of genes encoding chitin synthase chsF, glucoamylase glaA, and secretion machinery including cnx1, rab6, cypB, hacA) is observed at the periphery of Aspergillus niger colony, whereas expression of hydrophobin genes hfbA, hfbB, hfbD is almost exclusively found in the center [ 5 ].…”

The Sugar Metabolic Model of Aspergillus niger Can Only Be Reliably Transferred to Fungi of Its Phylum

“…The sample preparation and proteomics analysis of intracellular proteins were performed similarly as previously described [37]. Briefly, the intracellular proteome was analyzed using equal amounts of proteins from each sample.…”