Construction of an engineering strain producing high yields of α-transglucosidase via Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation of Asperillus niger.

In this study, Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation (ATMT) was used in breeding industrial strains for the purpose of improving α-transglucosidase production. Firstly, an efficient ATMT system for Asperillus niger was established by optimization of several influencing factors, in which transformation efficiency was improved up to 14-fold compared with the initial conditions. Furthermore, binary vector pBI-Glu containing an α-transglucosidase expression cassette was constructed and transferred into Agrobacterium tumefaciens LBA4404 in order to infect A. niger. By the efficient ATMT method, the gene for α-transglucosidase, driven by strong promoter PglaA (the glucoamylase gene promoter), had a high expression level in A. niger A-8 (25.02 U/mL). The optimized ATMT system was found to be effective and suitable for A. niger, and should be a useful tool for studying the function of A. niger genes and for industrial breeding of this strain.