Catabolite repression of hydrolases in Aspergillus niger

Abstract

A comparative study was made on catabolite repression of acid protease and polygalacturonase in an adenine-requiring mutant of Aspergillus niger. Both enzymes are inducible and accumulated extracellularly after cessation of growth caused by adenine starvation. Addition of glucose, fructose, or intermediates of glycolysis, but not tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates, depressed the formation of both enzymes. Catabolite repression of polygalacturonase by glucose occurred quickly and was almost complete. However, acid protease was only partly repressed even after several hours. Formation of polygalacturonase in the presence of actinomycin S3 or during deinduction was repressed by glucose, whereas that of acid protease was not. In the course of induction of acid protease by peptone, glucose did not affect the length of the induction lag period and the rate of acid protease formation decreased by glucose was not restored by the addition of large amounts of inducer. From these results, we suggest that catabolite repression of polygalacturonase occurs at the level of translation and that of acid protease at transcription.