Production and Partial Characterization of an Extracellular Phytase Produced by <i>Muscodor</i> sp. under Submerged Fermentation

Abstract

In most of the raw materials of plant origin used in animal feed, a portion of the phosphorus is stored as phytic acid or phytate. Phytate is the main storage form of phosphorus in vegetables but is not readily assimilated into food at low concentrations of the enzyme phytase. In addition to making phosphorous unavailable, phytate binds divalent cations such as calcium, copper, magnesium, iron, manganese and zinc, preventing the absorption of these nutrients in the gut of the animal. Phytase promotes the hydrolysis of the phytate phosphorus-releasing molecule, thereby increasing its bioavailability in feed. Phytase is distributed in plant and animal tissues and it is synthesized by some species of bacteria and fungi. The addition of this enzyme in the diet of animals is essential to promote greater uptake of phosphorus and also contributes to a decrease in the levels of phosphorus excreted by animals, thus reducing the pollution caused by excess phosphorus in the environment. This work aimed to select a fungus that stands out in the production of phytase among 100 isolates from Brazilian caves belonging to the genera Aspergillus, Penicillium and Cladosporium and 13 endophytic fungi of the aerial part of the coffee plant. For selection, the fungi were cultured in medium containing phytic acid as a sole source of phosphorus. After seven days at 25˚C, we evaluated growth and enzyme production by the presence of the phytic acid halo degradation (Enzymatic Index-EI) surrounding the colonies. Forty-seven species produced phytase, and the fungi Penicillium minioluteum (CF279) and Muscodor sp. (UBSX) showed higher degradation halos, 2.41 and 4.46, respectively. Considering the Muscodor sp. as the main source of phytase, * Corresponding author. N. M. Alves et al. 24high enzymatic levels were obtained when the fungus was grown under submerged fermentation with initial pH of 5.0 using wheat bran as additional carbon source for 144 h, at 125 rpm and 30˚C. Additionally, the enzyme was stable at pH 5.0 and 40˚C, and inhibited (14% -88%) by all compounds analyzed. Then, this is the first study that reports the production of phytase by the endophytic fungus Muscodor sp.

Production of Fungal Phytases from Agroindustrial Byproducts for Pig Diets

“…Other endophytic fungi were already described as phytase producers, including some species of the genus Mucosodor sp. 20 and Rhizoctonia sp. 21 .…”

Bioprocess for Production, Characteristics, and Biotechnological Applications of Fungal Phytases

“…For example, phytase production from Aspergillus fumigatus, A. japonicus, A. niger, Muscodor sp., and Ganoderma sp. MR-56 was investigated under SmF conditions using wheat bran as a substrate (Mandviwala and Khire, 2000;Mohan et al, 2004;Alves et al, 2016;Maller et al, 2016;Salmon et al, 2016). Coban and Demirci (2014) have produced and optimized culture conditions for A. ficuum NRRL 3135 using phytase selective medium containing sodium phytate as a substrate.…”

“…Additionally, various sources, such as glucose and sucrose, were used as a carbon source, while ammonium sulfate [(NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 ], ammonium nitrate (NH 4 NO 3 ), yeast and malt extract were used as nitrogen sources for the fermentation process, as is shown in Table 2. To check the optimum physical conditions for phytase production, such as pH value and temperature, different ranges of the initial pH of the culture medium and different temperatures of incubation have been employed (Alves et al, 2016;Qasim et al, 2017). For an example, the production of phytase from A. flavus ITCC 6720 was investigated by SSF on mustard cake as a substrate.…”

Immobilisation of phytase producing Gluconacetobacter with bacterial cellulose nano‐fibres and promotion of enzyme activities by magnetite nanoparticles

“…Phytic acid is the most important storage form of phosphorus in the crops such as cereal grains and oilseeds. Besides several physiological roles, phytate is identified as a strong chelator for divalent metal cations and thereby affects the nutritional quality of foods by mineral deficiency [1]. Alleviation of mineral deficiency caused by phytate is a major concern for developing countries.…”