Location of glucose oxidase during production by Aspergillus niger

The production of the enzyme glucose oxidase by Aspergillus niger is well documented. However, its distribution within the fungal culture is less well defined. Since the enzyme location impacts significantly on enzyme recovery, this study quantifies the enzyme distribution between the extracellular fluid, cell wall, cytoplasm and slime mucilage fractions in an A. niger NRRL-3. The culture was separated into the individual fractions and the glucose oxidase activity was determined in each. The extracellular fluid contained 38% of the total activity. The remaining 62% was associated with the mycelia and was distributed between the cell wall, cytoplasm and slime mucilage in the proportions of 34, 12 and 16%, respectively. Intracellular cytoplasmic and cell wall sites were confirmed using immunocytochemical labelling of the mycelia. In the non-viable cell, the mycelial-associated enzyme was distributed between these sites, whereas in the viable cell, it was predominantly associated with the cell wall. The distribution of the enzyme activity indicates that recovery from the solids would result in a 38% loss, whereas recovery from the extracellular fluid would result in a 62% loss. The results also suggest, however, that this 62% loss could be reduced to around 34% by disintegrating the solids prior to separation due to the contribution of the enzyme in the cytoplasm and slime mucilage. This was confirmed by independently establishing the percentage activity in the liquid and solid portions of a disintegrated culture as 62 and 38%, respectively.