Transcriptomic analysis of Aspergillus terreus grown on agro-industrial residues

Increased demands in global energy consumption, together with concerns over environmental pollution are driving the development of energy sources to meet future energy demands. Aspergillus terreus is a filamentous fungus producing enzymes with a wide range of biotechnological applications. This study aims to characterize lignocellulolytic enzyme production in A. terreus grown on culture media containing agro-industrial residue (sugarcane bagasse, soybean hull and louse cotton) and analyze differential gene expression in response to growth sources. A. terreus grown at 28^°C for each carbon source (1% ) over a ten day period produced enzymatic activities of xylanase, endoglucanase, mannanase, pectinase and FPase identified according to the DNS method. Whilst xylanase enzyme activity reached a plateau at 48 hours for all three carbon sources, production of this enzyme was more significant for the media containing sugarcane bagasse and soybean hulls, reaching 1.0 (IU.ml^-1). The production of pectinase and FPase was more prominent in the medium containing soybean hulls, reaching 0.5 and 2.0 (IU.ml^-1), respectively. cDNA library preparation for fungal mRNA from A. terreus cultured was conducted using the RNA TruSeq Sample preparation v2 Kit (® Illumina, Inc.). A. terreus also showed a significant performance as a producer of holocellulases. The sequenced cDNA libraries yielded a total average of 2.7 GB, with approximately 27 million reads. Approximately 81% of reads displayed a quality of Q >=30). Characterization of these transcriptome offers promise gene discovery for application in second generation biofuel development.