Jun‐ichi Maruyama

Among the eukaryotes only plants and a number of fungi are able to synthesize biotin. Although initial events leading to the biosynthesis of biotin remain largely unknown, the final steps are known to occur in the mitochondria. Here we deleted the Aopex5 and Aopex7 genes encoding the receptors for peroxisomal targeting signals PTS1 and PTS2, respectively, in the filamentous fungus Aspergillus oryzae. In addition to exhibiting defects in the peroxisomal targeting of either PTS1 or PTS2 proteins,

Aspergillus oryzae has been reported to form conidia with multinuclei. In order to analyze nuclei in living cells, we developed an expression system of the A. nidutans histone H2B protein tagged by EGFP (H2B::EGFP). In both A. oryzae niaD300 and A. nidulans FGSC89 transformants expressing H2B::EGFP, fluorescence was detected in nuclear regions of hyphae and conidia. While a conidium contained only one fluorescent spot in the A. nidulans transformant, approximately 66% of conidia had two, 24% had

Filamentous fungi have received attentions as hosts for heterologous protein production because of their high secretion capability and eukaryotic post-translational modifications. One of the safest hosts for heterologous protein production is Koji mold Aspergillus oryzae since it has been used in the production of Japanese fermented foods for over 1,000 years. The production levels of proteins from higher eukaryotes are much lower than those of homologous (fungal) proteins. Bottlenecks in the he

It has long been regarded that the primary function of fungal peroxisomes is limited to the β-oxidation of fatty acids, as mutants lacking peroxisomal function fail to grow in minimal medium containing fatty acids as the sole carbon source. However, studies in filamentous fungi have revealed that peroxisomes have diverse functional repertoires. This review describes the essential roles of peroxisomes in the growth and survival processes of filamentous fungi. One such survival mechanism involves

<i>Aspergillus oryzae</i> is a filamentous fungus that has been used in traditional Japanese brewing industries, such as the sake, soy sauce, and <i>miso</i> production. In addition, <i>A. oryzae</i> has been used in heterologous protein production, and the fungus has been recently used in biosynthetic research due to its ability to produce a large amount of heterologous natural products by introducing foreign biosynthetic genes. Genetic manipulation, which is important in the functional develop

Filamentous fungi are composed of hyphal compartments divided by septa, which communicate via septal pores. Apical compartments can elongate to over 100 microm without septum formation and possess a polarized distribution of organelles. In Aspergillus, subapical compartments are arrested in interphase but can reinitiate mitosis and growth by branching. Recent reports using green fluorescent protein (GFP) technology have demonstrated the highly differentiated localization of the endoplasmic retic