Abstract
Monascus is a filamentous fungus that produces several secondary metabolites. Here, we investigated the effects of the global regulator LaeA on the synthesis of pigments and monacolin K in Monascus purpureus with spectrophotometer and HPLC methods. The LaeA gene was isolated from M. purpureus M1 to create an overexpression construct. An LaeA-overexpressing strain L3 was with 48.6% higher monacolin K production than the M1 strain. The L3 strain also produced higher Monascus pigments than the M1 strain. SEM showed that LaeA overexpression resulted in altered mycelial morphology. Compared with the M1 strain, the L3 strain expressed higher levels of monacolin K synthesis-related genes mokA, mokB, mokE, and mokH. Overall, these results suggest that LaeA plays a role in regulating the production of secondary metabolites and mycelial growth in Monascus. This study provides important insights into the mechanisms underlying the effects of the LaeA gene on the secondary metabolites of M. purpureus.
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Funding
This work was supported by Beijing Nova Program (Grant No. Z181100006218021), Beijing Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. KZ201810011015), Support Project of High-level Teachers in Beijing Municipal Universities in the Period of 13th Five--year Plan (Grant No. CIT&TCD201804023), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 31301411, 31571801, and 31401669), National Key Research and Development Program (Grant No. 2016YFD0400802, 2016YFD0400502-02), The construct of innovation service ability--Science and technology achievement transformation--Upgrade project (Grant No. PXM 2016-014213-000034), Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Project (Grant No. Z171100002217019), and Beijing Excellent Talents Training Project (Grant No. 2016000020124G025).
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Zhang, C., Zhang, H., Zhu, Q. et al. Overexpression of global regulator LaeA increases secondary metabolite production in Monascus purpureus. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 104, 3049–3060 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-020-10379-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-020-10379-4