Saprobic fungi, such as Aspergillus niger, grow as colonies consisting of a network of branching and fusing hyphae that are often considered to be relatively uniform entities in which nutrients can freely move through the hyphae. In nature, different parts of a colony are often exposed to different nutrients. We have investigated, using a multi-omics approach, adaptation of A. niger colonies to spatially separated and compositionally different plant biomass substrates. This demonstrated a high level of intra-colony differentiation, which closely matched the locally available substrate. The part of the colony exposed to pectin-rich sugar beet pulp and to xylan-rich wheat bran showed high pectinolytic and high xylanolytic transcript and protein levels respectively. This study therefore exemplifies the high ability of fungal colonies to differentiate and adapt to local conditions, ensuring efficient use of the available nutrients, rather than maintaining a uniform physiology throughout the colony.

中文翻译：

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黑曲霉菌的菌落高度分化，以适应当地的碳源变化。

腐生真菌，例如黑曲霉，生长为由分支和融合菌丝网络组成的菌落，菌落通常被认为是相对均匀的实体，营养物质可以在菌丝中自由移动。在自然界中，殖民地的不同部分通常会暴露于不同的养分中。我们已经使用多组学方法研究了黑曲霉菌落对空间上分离且组成不同的植物生物质底物的适应性。这表明菌落内部的分化程度很高，与本地可用的底物非常匹配。暴露于富含果胶的甜菜果肉和富含木聚糖的麦麸的菌落部分分别表现出高的果胶分解和高的木聚糖分解转录和蛋白质水平。