%0 Journal Article
%T Generation, annotation, and analysis of an extensive Aspergillus niger EST collection
%A Natalia Semova
%A Reginald Storms
%A Tricia John
%A Pascale Gaudet
%A Peter Ulycznyj
%A Xiang Min
%A Jian Sun
%A Greg Butler
%A Adrian Tsang
%J BMC Microbiology
%D 2006
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1471-2180-6-7
%X We present here the analysis of 12,820 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) generated from A. niger cultured under seven different growth conditions. These ESTs identify about 5,108 genes of which 44.5% code for proteins sharing similarity (E ¡Ü 1e -5) with GenBank entries of known function, 38% code for proteins that only share similarity with GenBank entries of unknown function and 17.5% encode proteins that do not have a GenBank homolog. Using the Gene Ontology hierarchy, we present a first classification of the A. niger proteins encoded by these genes and compare its protein repertoire with other well-studied fungal species. We have established a searchable web-based database that includes the EST and derived contig sequences and their annotation. Details about this project and access to the annotated A. niger database are available.This EST collection and its annotation provide a significant resource for fundamental and applied research with A. niger. The gene set identified in this manuscript will be highly useful in the annotation of the genome sequence of A. niger, the genes described in the manuscript, especially those encoding hydrolytic enzymes will provide a valuable source for researchers interested in enzyme properties and applications.Members of the genus Aspergillus, including Aspergillus niger, are distributed worldwide and are commonly present on decaying plant debris. These saprophytes degrade the complex molecules in plant cell materials by secreting an extensive assortment of hydrolytic enzymes [1]. Since A. niger grows on organic matter over a wide range of temperature, 6¨C47¡ãC, and pH, 1.4¨C9.8 [2], this fungus produces enzymes that are active in diverse environmental conditions. Indeed, many enzymes produced by this fungus have already found application in the food, beverage, textile, agriculture, and paper and pulp industries [1,3]. A. niger is also widely used in the manufacture of organic acids including citric, gluconic and fumaric acids [4,5]. Im
%U http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2180/6/7