GOALI: Influence of Transient Nutrient Environments on the Morphology and Rheology of Filamentous Fungal Broth

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The objective of this project is to develop a fundamental understanding of how changes in a fungal cell's local nutrient environment can affect growth and branching. The natural tendency of fungal cells is to show varied branching patterns in the presence of different nutrient concentrations. This will be exploited as a framework to understand how the external environment alters fungal morphology, and hence rheology. This project is a university-industry collaboration which involves Novo Nordisk BioChem North America, a leading enzyme manufacturer. This company is to provide an industrially-relevant fungal strain, Aspergillus oryzae, which produces the enzyme alpha-amylase. In addition, the company will be an active participant in the research. The specific aims of the project are to: (1) quantify transient nutrient environments (TRE's) in an industrial-scale fungal fermentation, and determine how TNE's are affected by broth rheology, (2) characterize how TNE's and certain drugs (paramorphogens) alter the degree-of-branching in individual fungal mycelia, (3) determine how the degree-of-branching in individual mycelia affects clump morphology, and how this affects broth rheology, and (4) determine how TNE's affect clump morphology, broth rheology, and protein expression.