title: Overexpression of an acidic endo-β-1,3-1,4-glucanase in transgenic maize seed for direct utilization in animal feed.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Incorporation of exogenous glucanase into animal feed is common practice to remove glucan, one of the anti-nutritional factors, for efficient nutrition absorption. The acidic endo-β-1,3-1,4-glucanase (Bgl7A) from Bispora sp. MEY-1 has excellent properties and represents a potential enzyme supplement to animal feed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Here we successfully developed a transgenic maize producing a high level of Bgl7AM (codon modified Bgl7A) by constructing a recombinant vector driven by the embryo-specific promoter ZM-leg1A. Southern and Western blot analysis indicated the stable integration and specific expression of the transgene in maize seeds over four generations. The β-glucanase activity of the transgenic maize seeds reached up to 779,800 U/kg, about 236-fold higher than that of non-transgenic maize. The β-glucanase derived from the transgenic maize seeds had an optimal pH of 4.0 and was stable at pH 1.0-8.0, which is in agreement with the normal environment of digestive tract.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study offers a transgenic maize line that could be directly used in animal feed without any glucanase production, purification and supplementation, consequently simplifying the feed enzyme processing procedure.
authors.affiliation: Biotechnology Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Yuhong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Feed Biotechnology of the Ministry of Agriculture, Feed Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Xiaolu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Biotechnology Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Xiaojin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Biotechnology Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Rumei
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Feed Biotechnology of the Ministry of Agriculture, Feed Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Peilong
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Food Crops, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Qingchang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Feed Biotechnology of the Ministry of Agriculture, Feed Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Kun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Feed Biotechnology of the Ministry of Agriculture, Feed Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Huiying
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Institute of Food Crops, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Jianhua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Feed Biotechnology of the Ministry of Agriculture, Feed Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.affiliation: Biotechnology Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed; D000818:Animals; D001203:Ascomycota / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics; D044644:Endo-1,3(4)-beta-Glucanase / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D004795:Enzyme Stability; D005503:Food Additives; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005800:Genes, Fungal; D005822:Genetic Vectors; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012639:Seeds / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics; D003313:Zea mays / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D005503:Food Additives; D005656:Fungal Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D044644:Endo-1,3(4)-beta-Glucanase