Deletion analysis of the catalase-encoding gene (catB) promoter from Aspergillus oryzae

The catalase-encoding gene (catB) is expressed strongly in Aspergillus oryzae. To identify the transcription regulatory elements involved in strong expression, we did promoter deletion analysis using beta-glucuronidase (GUS) as a reporter and an electrophoretic gel mobility shift assay (EMSA) systematically. The deletion 200-bp sequence from -1,000 to -800 in the 1,400-bp catB promoter caused a drastic decrease in GUS activity. In addition, EMSA implicated a 45-bp element from -1,000 to -956 containing cis-elements. According to detailed promoter deletion analysis, a region from -1,000 to -975, which contains putative heat shock element (HSE) and the CCAAT-box, was involved in strong expression.