Transcription profiling of Aspergillus niger grown in media containg different pectic substrates to study the pectinolytic system

To study the induction of the genes encoding known and putative enzymes from the pectinolytic system of A. niger, the transcriptional profiles of 58 selected known or putative pectinolytic genes were monitored by microarray experiments. For this purpose, A. niger was cultivated on the complex substrates, sugar beet pectin and polygalacturonic acid as primary carbon sources. Galacturonic acid, rhamnose and xylose were used to assess the effects on gene expression caused by simple well-defined carbon sources, representing the most abundant sugar residues present in the backbone of pectin. Fructose, as a strong repressor of the expression of genes that are under carbon catabolite regulation, and sorbitol, as a non-inducing sugar-like alcohol, which does not affect the carbon catabolite regulation mechanisms were selected as control substrates. Mycelia of A. niger were pregrown for 18 h on 2% fructose, transferred to medium containing the different pectic and control substrates, and sampled at four time points during 24 h of incubation.