Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36843006›Full record

ArticleMicrobial cell factories2023

Effective production of kojic acid in engineered Aspergillus niger.

Liu Wu, Licheng Zhang, Xiaojie Li, Ruitong Lv, Wei Cao, Weixia Gao, Jiao Liu, Zhoujie Xie, Hao Liu

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Microbial cell factories, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
1.8field-weighted citation impact, top 15% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 12 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. EngineeredSynthetic and systems biotechnology · 2026
    Article
  2. Review
  3. The Zn(II)IMA fungus · 2025
    Article
  4. Application and antagonistic mechanisms of atoxigenicApplied and environmental microbiology · 2024
    Review
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Liu WuMOE Key Laboratory of Industrial Fermentation Microbiology, College of Biotechnology, Tianjin University of Science & Technology, Tianjin, 300457, China.
Licheng ZhangMOE Key Laboratory of Industrial Fermentation Microbiology, College of Biotechnology, Tianjin University of Science & Technology, Tianjin, 300457, China.
Xiaojie LiMOE Key Laboratory of Industrial Fermentation Microbiology, College of Biotechnology, Tianjin University of Science & Technology, Tianjin, 300457, China.
Ruitong LvMOE Key Laboratory of Industrial Fermentation Microbiology, College of Biotechnology, Tianjin University of Science & Technology, Tianjin, 300457, China.
Wei CaoMOE Key Laboratory of Industrial Fermentation Microbiology, College of Biotechnology, Tianjin University of Science & Technology, Tianjin, 300457, China.
Weixia GaoMOE Key Laboratory of Industrial Fermentation Microbiology, College of Biotechnology, Tianjin University of Science & Technology, Tianjin, 300457, China.
Jiao LiuMOE Key Laboratory of Industrial Fermentation Microbiology, College of Biotechnology, Tianjin University of Science & Technology, Tianjin, 300457, China.
Zhoujie XieMOE Key Laboratory of Industrial Fermentation Microbiology, College of Biotechnology, Tianjin University of Science & Technology, Tianjin, 300457, China. zhoujiexie@tust.edu.cn.
Hao LiuMOE Key Laboratory of Industrial Fermentation Microbiology, College of Biotechnology, Tianjin University of Science & Technology, Tianjin, 300457, China. liuhao@tust.edu.cn.
Tianjin University of Science and Technology · CN

Funding

National Key Research and Development Program of China 2021YFC2100700Tianjin Synthetic Biotechnology Innovation Capacity Improvement Project TSBICIP-KJGG-006
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundKojic acid (KA) is a widely used compound in the cosmetic, medical, and food industries, and is typically produced by Aspergillus oryzae. To meet increasing market demand, it is important to optimize KA production through seeking alternatives that are more economic than current A. oryzae-based methods.

resultsIn this study, we achieved the first successful heterologous production of KA in Aspergillus niger, an industrially important fungus that does not naturally produce KA, through the expression of the kojA gene from A. oryzae. Using the resulting KA-producing A. niger strain as a platform, we identified four genes (nrkA, nrkB, nrkC, and nrkD) that negatively regulate KA production. Knocking down nrkA or deleting any of the other three genes resulted in a significant increase in KA production in shaking flask cultivation. The highest KA titer (25.71 g/L) was achieved in a pH controlled batch bioreactor using the kojA overexpression strain with a deletion of nrkC, which showed a 26.7% improvement compared to the KA titer (20.29 g/L) that was achieved in shaking flask cultivation.

conclusionOur study demonstrates the potential of using A. niger as a platform for studying KA biosynthesis and regulation, and for the cost-effective production of KA in industrial strain development.

Indexed as

Aspergillus nigerAspergillus oryzaeAspergillusPyroneskojic acidPyronesAspergillus nigerHeterologous expressionKojic acidNegative regulator

Identifiers

PMID36843006
PMCPMC9969635
OpenAlexW4322201550

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.