Lactose and D-galactose catabolism in the filamentous fungus Aspergillus nidulans.
The disaccharide lactose is a byproduct of cheese production accumulating to amounts of 800,000 tons per year worldwide, of which 15% is used as a carbon source for various microbial fermentations. Nevertheless, little is known about the regulation of its metabolism in filamentous fungi. Lactose is metabolized slowly, and some important fungi such as A. niger cannot use it at all. A more detailed knowledge on the rate-limiting steps would be helpful to improve its industrial application. We have chosen A. nidulans as an object for investigating how lactose and galactose metabolism are regulated because it has long become a model system for biochemical and genetic research on fungi, and mutants in the lactose-metabolizing pathway of A. nidulans are available. In this paper, we will review the contributions of our research group achieved on this field.
Fekete
Erzsébet
E
Department of Genetics and Applied Microbiology, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Debrecen, P.O. Box 56, H-4010 Debrecen, Hungary.
Padra
János
J
Szentirmai
Attila
A
Karaffa
Levente
L
D001233:Aspergillus nidulans / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D005690:Galactose / Q000378:metabolism*; D007785:Lactose / Q000378:metabolism*; D053858:Metabolic Networks and Pathways / Q000235:genetics
D007785:Lactose; D005690:Galactose