Inducer-Free Cellulase Production System Based on the Constitutive Expression of Mutated Xyr1 and Ace3 in the Industrial Fungus Trichoderma Reesei

Background: Trichoderma reesei (Hypocrea jecorina) is a filamentous fungus that can produce extremely high levels of protein; consequently, it is utilized as a host for the production of cellulase and hemicellulase cocktails for lignocellulosic biomass degradation. Several hyper-producer strains of T. reesei have been bred for use in industrial production, but they generally require inducers to achieve high production capacities. The most commonly used inducers are soluble sugars produced by the degradation of cellulose; however, the dependence on cellulose degradation is problematic because cellulose is insoluble and has poor handling properties as a carbon source. Furthermore, once cellulose is decomposed, little cellulase is produced, making it difficult to produce the enzyme continuously and efficiently. The aim of this study was to establish a simple, inducer-free, cellulase production system using glucose as the sole carbon source.Results: Here, we focused on transcription factors that regulate both cellulase and hemicellulase genes. First, we verified that the previously reported Xylanase regulator 1 (Xyr1) mutation had a glucose-blind phenotype in T. reesei, and confirmed that constitutive expression of the V821F mutation in Xyr1 produced high levels of proteins, especially hemicellulase and cellulase, even in inducer-free conditions. However, the majority of proteins were hemicellulases. To reproduce cellulase/hemicellulase production similar to those observed under induced conditions, an activator of cellulase expression 3 (Ace3) was expressed in Xyr1V821F expressed strain additionally. As a result, the T. reesei strain constitutively expressing Xyr1V821F and Ace3 exhibited a 1.5-fold increase than Xyr1V821F expressed only in protein productivity under inducer-free conditions. Notably, the enzyme composition significantly improved for cellulases ratio and similar to that induced by cellulose. Furthermore, the enzymes exhibited a high saccharification efficiency when compared to that of produced by the strain expressing only the mutated Xyr1.Conclusions: This work shows that the constitutive expression of mutated Xyr1 and Ace3 can increase cellulase and hemicellulase production in T. reesei without inducers. This inducer-free enzyme production method could provide an effective system to reduce costs and simplify production processes, and is expected to be applied in the production of various proteins.