Caracterização das linhagens mutantes do fungo Trichoderma reesei RUT-C30Δzface1

Abstract

The research for renewable energy sources became even more essential due the imminent depletion of the fossil fuel sources. In this context Brazil has a prominent position on the world stage, since it has already used ethanol from sugar cane for some decades. The second generation ethanol (2G) is produced from the lignocellulosic biomass of the vegetable, which is composed by cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. The hydrolysis of these compounds requires a specific and high cost enzymatic cocktail. On this scenario, the Trichoderma reesei fungus gains spotlight, since it is one the microorganisms with the highest potential to produce hydroliytic enzymes. Therefore, the attempt to increase the cellulases production of this fungus is an important for the production of biofuels more attractive to the market. The aim of this work is to confirm the deletion of the sequence which codifies the zinc finger motif of the transcription factor ACE1 for cellulose repression from the T. reesei RUT-C30 strain and to characterize the enzymatic production of these mutant strains named T. reesei RUT-C30Δzface1. The enzymatic quantification was carried using the substrates carboxymethyl cellulose, microcrystalline cellulose and Whatman paper filter. The deletion confirmation occurred by the absence of the amplification gene ace1 on the mutants and the amplification of a 429 pb fragment of the RUT-C30 parental strain when the same primers and PCR conditions where used. These results suggest that the deletion of the zinc finger motif of the from ACE1 transcription factor is a prominent way to achieve an economically viable production of bioethanol.