doi: 10.17113/ftb.55.01.17.4729
Effect of Temperature-Shift and Temperature-Constant Cultivation on the Monacolin K Biosynthetic Gene Cluster Expression in Monascus sp.
Lin Lin, Changlu Wang*, Zhenjing Li, Huijia Wu and Mianhua Chen
Key Laboratory of Food Nutrition and Safety, College of Food Engineering and Biotechnology, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, No. 29, 13th Avenue, TEDA, Tianjin 300457, PR China
Article history:
Received April 5, 2016
Accepted October 12, 2016
Key words:
Monascus fuliginosus CG-6, monacolin K, temperature, protein analysis, gene analysis
Summary:
In this study, the effects of temperature-shift (from 30 to 25 °C) and temperature-constant (at 30 °C) cultivation on the mass of Monascus fuliginosus CG-6 mycelia and concentration of the produced monacolin K (MK) were monitored. The expression levels of the MK biosynthetic genes of M. fuliginosus CG-6 at constant and variable culture temperatures were analysed by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). The total protein was collected and determined by liquid chromatography-electrospray ionisation with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS). Results showed that the maximum mycelial mass in temperature-shift cultivation was only 0.477 g of dry cell mass per dish, which was lower than that in temperature-constant cultivation (0.581 g of dry cell mass per dish); however, the maximum concentration of MK in temperature-shift cultivation (34.5 μg/mL) was 16 times higher than that in temperature-constant cultivation at 30 °C (2.11 μg/mL). Gene expression analysis showed that the expression of the MK biosynthetic gene cluster at culture temperature of 25 °C was higher than that at 30 °C, which was similar to the trend of the MK concentration, except for individual MK B and MK C genes. Analysis of differential protein expression revealed that 2016 proteins were detected by LC-ESI-MS/MS. The expression level of efflux pump protein coded by the MK I gene exhibited the same upregulated trend as the expression of MK I in temperature-shift cultivation. Temperature-shift cultivation enhanced the expression of proteins in the secondary metabolite production pathway, but suppressed the expression of proteins involved in the mycelial growth.
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