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

TY - JOUR

T1 - Colonies of the fungus Aspergillus niger are highly differentiated to adapt to local carbon source variation

AU - Daly, Paul

AU - Peng, Mao

AU - Mitchell, Hugh D

AU - Kim, Young-Mo

AU - Ansong, Charles

AU - Brewer, Heather

AU - de Gijsel, Peter

AU - Lipton, Mary S

AU - Markillie, Lye Meng

AU - Nicora, Carrie D

AU - Orr, Galya

AU - Wiebenga, Ad

AU - Hildén, Kristiina S

AU - Kabel, Mirjam A

AU - Baker, Scott E

AU - Mäkelä, Miia R

AU - de Vries, Ronald P

N1 - This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

PY - 2020/3

Y1 - 2020/3

N2 - 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. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

AB - 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. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

U2 - 10.1111/1462-2920.14907

DO - 10.1111/1462-2920.14907

M3 - Article

C2 - 31876091

SN - 1462-2912

SP - 1154

EP - 1166

JO - Environmental Microbiology

JF - Environmental Microbiology

ER -