Lignin-degrading enzyme production was enhanced by the novel transcription factor Ptf6 in synergistic microbial co-culture

Synergistic microbial co-culture has been an efficient and energy-saving strategy to produce lignin-degrading enzymes (LDEs), including laccase, manganese peroxidase, and versatile peroxidase. However, the regulatory mechanism of microbial co-culture is still unclear. Herein, the extracellular LDE activities of four white-rot fungi were significantly increased by 88-544% over monoculture levels when co-cultured with Rhodotorula mucilaginosa. Ptf6 was demonstrated from the 9 million Y1H clone library to be a shared GATA transcription factor in the four fungi, and could directly bind to the laccase gene promoter. Ptf6 exists in two alternatively spliced isoforms under monoculture, namely Ptf6-α (1078 amino acids) containing Cys2/Cys2-type zinc finger and Ptf6-β (963 amino acids) lacking the complete domain. Ptf6 responded to co-culture by up-regulation of both its own transcripts and the proportion of Ptf6-α. Ptf6-α positively activated the production of most LDE isoenzymes and bound to four GATA motifs on the LDEs' promoter with different affinities. Moreover, Ptf6-regulation mechanism can be applicable to a variety of microbial co-culture systems. This study lays a theoretical foundation for further improving LDEs production and providing an efficient way to enhance the effects of biological and enzymatic pretreatment for lignocellulosic biomass conversion.