ABSTRACT
Efficient and economical deconstruction of biomass is critical for the success of lignocellulosic biorefineries. Biomass pretreatment with ionic liquids (ILs) tackles this issue as it increases biomass saccharification efficiency at lower cellulose loadings. However, some ILs inhibit the activity of commercial cellulases and must be first be removed from the biomass, which is a costly mitigation.
Ascomycete fungus, Aspergillus niger, has been widely used for high titer enzyme production. Aspergillus niger is a filamentous fungus in ascomycete and naturally capable to secrete a wide range of enzymes for pharmaceutical and food industries.
The present invention provides for an Asperigillus niger host cell comprising a gene of interest operatively linked to an ecm33 promoter of an ascomycete fungi, wherein the gene of interest is heterologous to the ecm33 promoter and/or to Asperigillus niger. In some embodiments, the gene of interest is a glycoside hydrolase enzyme. In some embodiments, the glycoside hydrolase enzyme is a glucosidase.
STATUS: Published U. S. Patent Application 16/124,127 (Publication US2019-0169584).
REFERENCE: 2016-092