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Expression and export: recombinant protein production systems for Aspergillus

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Abstract

Several Aspergillus species, in particular Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus oryzae, are widely used as protein production hosts in various biotechnological applications. In order to improve the expression and secretion of recombinant proteins in these filamentous fungi, several novel genetic engineering strategies have been developed in recent years. This review describes state-of-the-art genetic manipulation technologies used for strain improvement, as well as recent advances in designing the most appropriate engineering strategy for a particular protein production process. Furthermore, current developments in identifying bottlenecks in the protein production and secretion pathways are described and novel approaches to overcome these limitations are introduced. An appropriate combination of expression vectors and optimized host strains will provide cell factories customized for each production process and expand the great potential of Aspergilli as biotechnology workhorses to more complex multi-step industrial applications.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Habib Driouch, Andreas Roth, and Dr. Christoph Wittmann for helpful discussion and data of A. niger cultivation with microparticles and Dr. Fabio Pisano for critical reading of the manuscript. The writing of this review was supported by a grant (SFB578, project A1) of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.

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  1. Institute of Genetics, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Spielmannstrasse 7, 38106, Braunschweig, Germany

    André Fleißner

  2. Department of Molecular Infection Biology, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Inhoffenstrasse. 7, 38124, Braunschweig, Germany

    Petra Dersch

  3. Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung, Inhoffenstrasse 7, 38124, Braunschweig, Germany

    Petra Dersch

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  1. André Fleißner
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Fleißner, A., Dersch, P. Expression and export: recombinant protein production systems for Aspergillus . Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 87, 1255–1270 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-010-2672-6

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