Metabolic Engineering of the Glycolytic Pathway in Aspergillus niger

George J.G. Ruijter, Henk Panneman, Jaap Visser

Section Molecular Genetics of Industrial Microorganisms, Wageningen Agricultural University, Dreijenlaan 2, 6703 NA Wageningen, The Netherlands

Article history:
Received January 26, 1998 
Accepted June 17, 1998

Key words:
metabolic engineering, citric acid, Aspergillus niger, glycolysis

Summary:
Citric acid is produced by fermentation employing the filamentous fungus Aspergillus niger. The biosynthetic pathway involved in conversion of sugar substrates to citric acid includes glycolysis and part of the tricarboxylic acid cycle. This paper describes some of the recent developments for improvement of A. niger strains by genetic engineering. Two aspects are discussed: characterisation of A. niger primary metabolism, and overexpression of glycolytic genes in A. niger with subsequent analysis of citric acid production by the modified strains.  

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