Aspergillus terreus was reported as the promising fungal strain for itaconic acid; however, the commercial production suffers from the low yield. Low production yield was claimed as the result of completing the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle towards biomass synthesis while under limiting phosphate and nitrogen; TCA cycle was somewhat shunted and consequently, the metabolite fluxes move towards itaconic acid production route. By regulating enzymes in TCA cycle, it is believed that itaconic acid production can be improved. One of the key responsible enzymes involved in itaconic acid production was triggered in this study. Pyruvate carboxylase was allosterically inhibited by L-aspartate. The presence of 10 mM L-aspartate in the production medium directly repressed PC expression in the living A. terreus while the limited malate flux regulated the malate/citrate antiporters resulting in the increasing cis-aconitate decarboxylase activity to simultaneously convert cis-aconitate, citrate isomer, into itaconic acid. The transport of cis-aconitate via the antiporters induced citrate synthase and 6-phosphofructo-1-kinase activities in response to balance the fluxes of TCA intermediates. Successively, itaconic acid production yield and final concentration could be improved by 8.33 and 60.32 %, respectively, compared to those obtained from the control fermentation with the shortened lag time to produce itaconic acid during the production phase.
Keywords: 6-phosphofructo-1-kinase; Allosteric inhibition; Aspergillus terreus; Cis-aconitate decarboxylase; Fermentation; Itaconic acid; L-aspartate; Pyruvate carboxylase.