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Contribution of arginase to manganese metabolism of Aspergillus niger

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Abstract

Aspects of manganese metabolism during normal and acidogenic growth of Aspergillus niger were explored. Arginase from this fungus was a Mn[II]-enzyme. The contribution of the arginase protein towards A. niger manganese metabolism was investigated using arginase knockout (D-42) and arginase over-expressing (ΔXCA-29) strains of A. niger NCIM 565. The Mn[II] contents of various mycelial fractions were found in the order: D-42 strain < parent strain < ΔXCA-29 strain. While the soluble fraction forms 60 % of the total mycelial Mn[II] content, arginase accounted for a significant fraction of this soluble Mn[II] pool. Changes in the arginase levels affected the absolute mycelial Mn[II] content but not its distribution in the various mycelial fractions. The A. niger mycelia harvested from acidogenic growth media contain substantially less Mn[II] as compared to those from normal growth media. Nevertheless, acidogenic mycelia harbor considerable Mn[II] levels and a functional arginase. Altered levels of mycelial arginase protein did not significantly influence citric acid production. The relevance of arginase to cellular Mn[II] pool and homeostasis was evaluated and the results suggest that arginase regulation could occur via manganese availability.

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Acknowledgments

We acknowledge Sophisticated Analysis and Instrumentation Facility (SAIF), Department of Earth Sciences, and Centre for Environmental Science and Engineering (CESE) at IIT Bombay for support in Mn[II] analyses. Dr. Neetu Singh performed early standardizations of A. niger growth inhibition by Mn[II]. The work was supported by a grant from Board of Research in Nuclear Sciences (BRNS), Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and fellowship (to Sarita Keni) by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

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  1. Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Powai, Mumbai, 400076, India

    Sarita Keni & Narayan S. Punekar

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  1. Sarita Keni
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  2. Narayan S. Punekar
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Correspondence to Narayan S. Punekar.

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Keni, S., Punekar, N.S. Contribution of arginase to manganese metabolism of Aspergillus niger . Biometals 29, 95–106 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10534-015-9900-6

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