title: Tandem shock waves to enhance genetic transformation of Aspergillus niger.
abstract: Filamentous fungi are used in several industries and in academia to produce antibiotics, metabolites, proteins and pharmaceutical compounds. The development of valuable strains usually requires the insertion of recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid; however, the protocols to transfer DNA to fungal cells are highly inefficient. Recently, underwater shock waves were successfully used to genetically transform filamentous fungi. The purpose of this research was to demonstrate that the efficiency of transformation can be improved significantly by enhancing acoustic cavitation using tandem (dual-pulse) shock waves. Results revealed that tandem pressure pulses, generated at a delay of 300 μs, increased the transformation efficiency of Aspergillus niger up to 84% in comparison with conventional (single-pulse) shock waves. This methodology may also be useful to obtain new strains required in basic research and biotechnology.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Física Aplicada y Tecnología Avanzada, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Blvd. Juriquilla 3001, 76230 Querétaro, Qro., Mexico. Electronic address: loske@fata.unam.mx.
authors.forename: Achim M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Loske
authors.affiliation: Centro de Física Aplicada y Tecnología Avanzada, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Blvd. Juriquilla 3001, 76230 Querétaro, Qro., Mexico.
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fernández
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ingeniería Genética de Plantas, Unidad Irapuato, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del IPN, 36500 Irapuato, Gto., Mexico.
authors.forename: Denis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Magaña-Ortíz
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ingeniería Genética de Plantas, Unidad Irapuato, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del IPN, 36500 Irapuato, Gto., Mexico.
authors.forename: Nancy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Coconi-Linares
authors.affiliation: Instituto Tecnológico de Mérida, Av. Tecnológico, 97118 Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ortíz-Vázquez
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ingeniería Genética de Plantas, Unidad Irapuato, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del IPN, 36500 Irapuato, Gto., Mexico. Electronic address: mgomez@ira.cinvestav.mx.
authors.forename: Miguel A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Gómez-Lim
mesh_terms: D001234:Aspergillus niger / Q000235:genetics*; D004867:Equipment Design; D019220:High-Energy Shock Waves; D014170:Transformation, Genetic
keywords: Acoustic cavitation; Filamentous fungi; Genetic transformation; Microjets; Tandem shock waves