Publications by authors named "Mortensen U"

Background: Fermentation of sugars derived from plant biomass feedstock is crucial for sustainability. Hence, utilizing customized enzymatic cocktails to obtain oligosaccharides instead of monomers is an alternative fermentation strategy to produce prebiotics, cosmetics, and biofuels. This study developed an engineered strain of Aspergillus niger producing a tailored cellulolytic cocktail capable of partially degrading sugarcane straw to yield cellooligosaccharides.

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Komagataella phaffii (Pichia pastoris) is a methylotrophic yeast that is favored by industry and academia mainly for expression of heterologous proteins. However, its full potential as a host for bioproduction of valuable compounds cannot be fully exploited as genetic tools are lagging behind those that are available for baker's yeast. The emergence of CRISPR-Cas9 technology has significantly improved the efficiency of gene manipulations of K.

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Article Synopsis
  • The text discusses industrial biotechnology applications, focusing on the production of itaconic acid and bioactive metabolites from specific fungal species.
  • Draft genome sequences were presented for multiple species, revealing a rich diversity of secondary metabolism genes, particularly in one genus, which shows high potential for genome mining.
  • The study found unique strategies for UV protection among these species and highlighted their impressive ability to degrade plant polysaccharides, indicating further biotechnological uses.
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The success of forward metabolic engineering depends on a thorough understanding of the behaviour of a heterologous metabolic pathway within its host. We have recently described CRI-SPA, a high-throughput gene editing method enabling the delivery of a metabolic pathway to all strains of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae knock-out library. CRI-SPA systematically quantifies the effect of each modified gene present in the library on product synthesis, providing a complete map of host:pathway interactions.

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Background: Coronary artery fistulas (CAFs) are abnormal communications between the coronary arteries and the heart chambers, arteries, or veins, potentially leading to significant shunting, myocardial ischaemia and heart failure. Computed tomographic (CT) angiography or conventional invasive angiography is the reference standard for the diagnosis of coronary fistulas. The fistula anatomy can become very complex, which makes surgical or interventional planning challenging.

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Background: Robust data on changes in pulmonary valve replacement (PVR) procedural volume and predictors of bioprosthetic pulmonary valve (BPV) durability in patients with tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) are scarce.

Objectives: This study sought to assess temporal trends in PVR procedural volume and BPV durability in a nationwide, retrospective TOF cohort.

Methods: Data were obtained from patient records.

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Biological functions are orchestrated by intricate networks of interacting genetic elements. Predicting the interaction landscape remains a challenge for systems biology and new research tools allowing simple and rapid mapping of sequence to function are desirable. Here, we describe CRI-SPA, a method allowing the transfer of chromosomal genetic features from a CRI-SPA Donor strain to arrayed strains in large libraries of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

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The introduction of CRISPR technologies has revolutionized strain engineering in filamentous fungi. However, its use in commercial applications has been hampered by concerns over intellectual property (IP) ownership, and there is a need for implementing Cas nucleases that are not limited by complex IP constraints. One promising candidate in this context is the Mad7 enzyme, and we here present a versatile Mad7-CRISPR vector-set that can be efficiently used for the genetic engineering of four different Aspergillus species: Aspergillus nidulans, A.

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Objectives: To assess temporal changes in the surgical management of patients with tetralogy of Fallot including the timing of interventions, surgical techniques, reinterventions and survival in a nationwide cohort.

Methods: Patients with tetralogy of Fallot in Denmark were divided into 3 eras based on their year of birth: early (1977-1991), intermediate (1992-2006) and late (2007-2021).

Results: The cohort consisted of 745 patients.

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Article Synopsis
  • Aspergillus terreus is recognized for producing important substances like lovastatin and itaconic acid, and researchers aim to enhance their production through genetic engineering.
  • A whole genome sequence of A. terreus ATCC 20541 reveals 10,410 predicted protein-coding genes and highlights unique genetic features, including a specific lovastatin biosynthetic gene cluster only found in this strain.
  • The study analyzes the diversity of carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes), cytochrome P450s (CYPs), and secondary metabolites across eleven A. terreus strains, showing distinct patterns that could guide future research on beneficial secondary metabolites and their gene clusters.
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CRISPR-Cas9 technology has been utilized in different organisms for targeted mutagenesis, offering a fast, precise and cheap approach to speed up molecular breeding and study of gene function. Until now, many researchers have established the demonstration of applying the CRISPR/Cas9 system to various fungal model species. However, there are very few guidelines available for CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing in .

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Intake of brassicaceous vegetables such as cabbage is associated with numerous health benefits. The major defense compounds in the Brassicales order are the amino acid-derived glucosinolates that have been associated with the health-promoting effects. This has primed a desire to build glucosinolate-producing microbial cell factories as a stable and reliable source.

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A chemical investigation of the filamentous fungus led to the isolation of a polyketide-nonribosomal peptide hybrid, calipyridone A (). A putative biosynthetic gene cluster for production of was next identified by genome mining. The role of the cluster in the production of was confirmed by multiple gene deletion experiments in the host strain as well as by heterologous expression of the hybrid gene in.

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Halophilic and osmotolerant yeast has a high potential for cell factory applications due to its resistance to harsh environmental factors and compatibility with a wide substrate range. However, currently available genetic techniques do not allow the full potential of as a cell factory to be harnessed. Moreover, most of the currently available tools rely on the use of auxotrophic markers that are not suitable in wild-type prototrophic strains.

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Filamentous fungi secrete protein with a very high efficiency, and this potential can be exploited advantageously to produce therapeutic proteins at low costs. A significant barrier to this goal is posed by the fact that fungal N-glycosylation varies substantially from that of humans. Inappropriate N-glycosylation of therapeutics results in reduced product quality, including poor efficacy, decreased serum half-life, and undesirable immune reactions.

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Over the last decades, remarkable advances in survival in patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) have been reported. Currently, 90% of infants born with CHD can expect to reach adulthood. Moderate and severe CHD is associated with increased perioperative mortality.

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In recent years, there has been an increasing demand for the replacement of synthetic food colorants with naturally derived alternatives. Filamentous fungi are prolific producers of secondary metabolites including polyketide-derived pigments, many of which have not been fully characterized yet. During our ongoing investigations of black aspergilli, we noticed that Aspergillus homomorphus turned yellow when cultivated on malt extract agar plates.

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Recent sequencing of numerous fungal species revealed large repertoires of putative biotechnologically relevant genes and secondary metabolite gene clusters. However, often the commercial potential of these species is impeded by difficulties to predict host physiological and metabolic compatibility with a given product, and lack of adequate genetic tools. Consequently, most heterologous production is performed in standard hosts where genetic tools and experience are in place.

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Background: To investigate if acute pulmonary vasodilation by sildenafil improves right ventricular function in patients with acute intermediate-high risk pulmonary embolism (PE).

Methods: Single center, explorative trial. Patients with PE were randomized to a single oral dose of sildenafil 50 mg (n = 10) or placebo (n = 10) as add-on to conventional therapy.

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Precise control of the gene copy number in the model yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae may facilitate elucidation of enzyme functions or, in cell factory design, can be used to optimize production of proteins and metabolites. Currently, available methods can provide high gene-expression levels but fail to achieve accurate gene dosage. Moreover, strains generated using these methods often suffer from genetic instability resulting in loss of gene copies during prolonged cultivation.

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Fungi have the ability to transform organic materials into a rich and diverse set of useful products and provide distinct opportunities for tackling the urgent challenges before all humans. Fungal biotechnology can advance the transition from our petroleum-based economy into a bio-based circular economy and has the ability to sustainably produce resilient sources of food, feed, chemicals, fuels, textiles, and materials for construction, automotive and transportation industries, for furniture and beyond. Fungal biotechnology offers solutions for securing, stabilizing and enhancing the food supply for a growing human population, while simultaneously lowering greenhouse gas emissions.

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This work presents the identification and proposed biosynthetic pathway for a compound of mixed polyketide-nonribosomal peptide origin that we named acurin A. The compound was isolated from an extract of the filamentous fungus Aspergillus aculeatus, and its core structure resemble that of the mycotoxin fusarin C produced by several Fusarium species. Based on bioinformatics in combination with RT-qPCR experiments and gene-deletion analysis, we identified a biosynthetic gene cluster (BGC) in A.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Section Flavi includes both harmful (e.g., Aspergillus flavus) and beneficial (e.g., Aspergillus oryzae) species of fungi, with the latter playing a role in food fermentation and enzyme production.
  • - Researchers sequenced 19 genomes and compared them to others, finding that the closest relative of A. oryzae is not A. flavus but rather A. minisclerotigenes or A. aflatoxiformans, revealing high genetic diversity, especially near chromosome ends.
  • - Although many CAZymes and secondary metabolite genes are predicted in section Flavi, the correlation between these predictions and actual growth characteristics or polysaccharide breakdown is inconsistent, indicating a
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Background: Dynamic O-water PET may provide information about cardiopulmonary circulation complementary to MRI and CT in complex cyanotic heart disease.

Case Presentation: We present a case in which a O-water PET scan was used for the first time to map the complex circulation in a univentricular heart patient with dual pulmonary blood supply. The pulmonary blood supply consisted of partially oxygenated blood led from the univentricle to the lungs by the pulmonary artery, plus of venous blood from the upper body lead by a bidirectional Glenn anastomosis to the right pulmonary artery.

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The filamentous fungus can cause a distinct set of clinical disorders in humans. Invasive aspergillosis (IA) is the most common life-threatening fungal disease of immunocompromised humans. The mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways are essential to the adaptation to the human host.

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