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[Secretory expression of an antifungal protein in the mold Trichoderma viride]

Jun Xu1, Zhen-Zhen Gong

  • 1State Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China.

Sheng Wu Hua Xue Yu Sheng Wu Wu Li Xue Bao Acta Biochimica Et Biophysica Sinica
|May 27, 2003
PubMed

Insights

Antifungal protein (AFP) from Aspergillus giganteus was successfully expressed and secreted in Trichoderma viride. This demonstrates the potential of T. viride as a system for heterologous gene expression.

Area of Science:

  • Mycology
  • Molecular Biology
  • Protein Expression

Background:

  • Aspergillus giganteus secretes a potent antifungal protein (AFP).
  • A silent AFP-like gene exists in Trichoderma viride.
  • Investigating heterologous gene expression in T. viride is valuable.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine if the AFP gene from A. giganteus can be expressed in T. viride.
  • To establish T. viride as a host for secretory expression of eukaryotic genes.

Main Methods:

  • Constructed an expression plasmid with the AFP gene under the control of the trpC promoter and terminator.
  • Transformed T. viride with the constructed plasmid.
  • Analyzed AFP expression and secretion using SDS-PAGE and Western blot.

Main Results:

  • AFP was successfully expressed in the transformant of T. viride.
  • Secreted AFP was detected in the culture supernatant.
  • The study confirmed the expression of a heterologous gene in T. viride.

Conclusions:

  • The genomic AFP gene from A. giganteus can be expressed in T. viride.
  • T. viride is a viable system for the secretory expression of valuable heterologous eukaryotic genes.
  • This research lays the groundwork for future applications in gene expression systems.

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