Abstract
BackgroundVarious saprotrophic microorganisms, especially filamentous fungi, can efficiently degrade lignocellulose that is one of the most abundant natural materials on earth. It consists of complex carbohydrates and aromatic polymers found in the plant cell wall and thus in plant debris. Aspergillus fumigatus Z5 was isolated from compost heaps and showed highly efficient plant biomass-degradation capability.ResultsThe 29-million base-pair genome of Z5 was sequenced and 9540 protein-coding genes were predicted and annotated. Genome analysis revealed an impressive array of genes encoding cellulases, hemicellulases and pectinases involved in lignocellulosic biomass degradation. Transcriptional responses of A. fumigatus Z5 induced by sucrose, oat spelt xylan, Avicel PH-101 and rice straw were compared. There were 444, 1711 and 1386 significantly differently expressed genes in xylan, cellulose and rice straw, respectively, when compared to sucrose as a control condition.ConclusionsCombined analysis of the genomic and transcriptomic data provides a comprehensive understanding of the responding mechanisms to the most abundant natural polysaccharides in A. fumigatus. This study provides a basis for further analysis of genes shown to be highly induced in the presence of polysaccharide substrates and also the information which could prove useful for biomass degradation and heterologous protein expression.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-015-1658-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Various saprotrophic microorganisms, especially filamentous fungi, can efficiently degrade lignocellulose that is one of the most abundant natural materials on earth
Combined analysis of the genomic and transcriptomic data provides a comprehensive understanding of the responding mechanisms to the most abundant natural polysaccharides in A. fumigatus, as well as a roadmap for biomass utilization and the industrial application of gene resources or as a host for protein expression
Strain Z5 has 245 unique proteins when compared to A. fumigatus AF293 and N. fischeri NRRL 181, and of these unique proteins, 218 were annotated as hypothetical proteins
Summary
Especially filamentous fungi, can efficiently degrade lignocellulose that is one of the most abundant natural materials on earth It consists of complex carbohydrates and aromatic polymers found in the plant cell wall and in plant debris. Plant biomass is the most abundant natural material on earth and the only foreseeable sustainable source of fuels and materials available to humanity [1, 2]. It mainly consists of cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, pectin and other polymers in ratios that vary between plant species [3].
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