title: Specific expression and temperature-dependent expression of the acid protease-encoding gene (pepA) in Aspergillus oryzae in solid-state culture (Rice-Koji).
abstract: The synthesis of acid protease in rice-koji is important for sake brewing. Northern blot analysis was carried out to study the transcriptional regulation of acid protease-encoding gene (pepA in Aspergillus orytae. The pepA gene was not expressed in submerged culture, while it was expressed when cultured on steamed rice. Additionally, the culture at high temperature (>38 degrees C) caused a marked decrease in transcription level of pepA, although the alpha-amylase (amyB) and actin genes were expressed regardless of the temperature. To examine whether the pepA promoter controlled the temperature-dependent expression, the promoter regions of pepA and amyB were introduced into a vector containing the GUS reporter gene (uidA gene). Northern blot analysis showed that the elevation of culture temperature caused the loss of uidA expression in the pepA promoter-uidA transformant but not in the amyB promoter-uidA transformant. These results suggest that its promoter controlled the temperature-dependent expression of pepA.
authors.affiliation: General Research Laboratory of Kiku-Masamune Sake Brewing Co. Ltd., 1-8-6 Uozaki-nishimachi, Higashinada-ku, Kobe 658-0026, Japan. h-kitano@kikumasamune.co.jp
authors.forename: Hideyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kitano
authors.forename: Kouhei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kataoka
authors.forename: Keiji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Furukawa
authors.forename: Shodo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hara