Improvement of xylanase production by Aspergillus niger XY-1 using response surface methodology for optimizing the medium composition

Improvement of xylanase production by Aspergillus niger XY-1 using response surface methodology for optimizing the medium composition first-author †E-mail:xuyx007@163.com †E-mail:xuyx007@163.com xuyx007@163.com Institute of Plant Protection and Microbiology, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310021, China Institute of Plant Protection and Microbiology, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310021, China Objective: 2 To study the optimal medium composition for xylanase production by Aspergillus niger XY-1 in solid-state fermentation (SSF). Methods: 2 Statistical methodology including the Plackett-Burman design (PBD) and the central composite design (CCD) was employed to investigate the individual crucial component of the medium that significantly affected the enzyme yield. Results: 2 Firstly, NaNO 3 , yeast extract, urea, Na 2 CO 3 , MgSO 4 , peptone and (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 were screened as the significant factors positively affecting the xylanase production by PBD. Secondly, by valuating the nitrogen sources effect, urea was proved to be the most effective and economic nitrogen source for xylanase production and used for further optimization. Finally, the CCD and response surface methodology (RSM) were applied to determine the optimal concentration of each significant variable, which included urea, Na 2 CO 3 and MgSO 4 . Subsequently a second-order polynomial was determined by multiple regression analysis. The optimum values of the critical components for maximum xylanase production were obtained as follows: x 1 (urea)=0.163 (41.63 g/L), x 2 (Na 2 CO 3 )=−1.68 (2.64 g/L), x 3 (MgSO 4 )=1.338 (10.68 g/L) and the predicted xylanase value was 14374.6 U/g dry substrate. Using the optimized condition, xylanase production by Aspergillus niger XY-1 after 48 h fermentation reached 14637 U/g dry substrate with wheat bran in the shake flask. Conclusion: 2 By using PBD and CCD, we obtained the optimal composition for xylanase production by Aspergillus niger XY-1 in SSF, and the results of no additional expensive medium and shortened fermentation time for higher xylanase production show the potential for industrial utilization. Xylanase Optimization of medium composition Plackett-Burman design (PBD) Central composite design (CCD) Response surface methodology (RSM) Aspergillus niger XY-1 INTRODUCTION 1 Xylan, the major hemicellulose polysaccharide, is widely distributed in agricultural by-products including corncob, rice husk, wheat straw and wheat bran. In China billions of tons of those by-products have been produced every year and some of them have been used in animal feed as feed ingredients for economic reasons. However, due to the high content of arabinoxylans, which might reduce animal digestibility of dietary protein and the absorption of amino acids, the utilization of those by-products in feed is limited and impractical (Slominski et al., 2004 2004 ; Barrera et al., 2004 2004 ). Hence the removal of arabinoxylans from agricultural by-products becomes highly desirable. To degrade arabinoxylans completely, a number of enzymes are required including xylanases, β-xylosidase, α-arabinofuranosidase, acetyl and feruloyl esterases and α-D-glucuronosidases (Courtin et al., 2006 2006 ). Among them xylanase (EC 3.2.1.8), which can catalyze the hydrolysis of the xylopyranosyl linkages of β-1,4-xylan and randomly cut the arabinoxylan backbone to produce a wide range of arabinoxylan fragments, plays the most important role. Supplementation of xylanase into the feed has thus been reported as an efficient method to increase the apparent faecal digestibility coefficients of crude protein, crude fat, crude fibre and organic matter, and improved energy absorption (Lindberg et al., 2007 2007 ; Tapingkae et al., 2008 2008 ; Sterk et al., 2007 2007 ; Nortey et al., 2007 2007 ). So far commercial xylanase products have already appeared on the market and most of them are produced by Bacillus (Heck et al., 2006 2006 ; Gessesse and Mamo, 1999 1999 ), Aspergillus (Wu et al., 2005 2005 ; Senthilkumar et al., 2005 2005 ; Botella et al., 2007 2007 ), Penicillium oxalicum (Li et al., 2007a 2007a ; 2007b 2007b ), Paecilomyces themophila (Yang et al., 2006 2006 ) and Thermomyces lanuginosus (Sonia et al., 2005 2005 ). Production of xylanase by solid-state fermentation (SSF) using various lignocellulosic substrates has been reported previously (Ghanem et al., 2000 2000 ; Li et al., 2007c 2007c ) and was found to have several advantages, such as higher productivity as well as lower operational and capital costs. Because the cost of the enzyme is the major factor for broad application, approaches that either decrease the medium cost or increase production efficiency should be investigated. Since SSF can be performed on a variety of lignocellulosic materials, such as wheat straw, wheat bran and corncob, the cost of xylanase production can be reduced greatly. On the another hand, high yield xylanase production strains have been screened by Yang et al.( 2006 2006 ), but the fermentation time was 4~12 d and that was not adequate in meeting industrial needs (Narang et al., 2001 2001 ; Park et al., 2002 2002 ; Bakri et al., 2003 2003 ; Wu et al., 2005 2005 ; Yang et al., 2006 2006 ). Recently an Aspergillus niger strain XY-1 was isolated for high-level xylanase production in our lab and its fermentation time was shortened to 2 d. It provided great expectations for use as an industrial strain. The aim of this work was to apply statistical methods to optimize the fermentation medium compositions for the improvement of xylanase production by A . niger XY-1. A Placket-Burman design (PBD) (Plackett and Burman, 1946 1946 ) was firstly used to identify the medium components which had significant effects on xylanase production. A central composite design (CCD) (Box and Wilson, 1951 1951 ) was then employed to optimize the factors that had a significant influence on xylanase production. MATERIALS AND METHODS 1 Microorganism and chemicals 2 The organism used in the current study was A . niger XY-1, identified by the China General Microbiological Culture Collection Center. The strain was grown on potato dextrose agar (PDA) slants at 28 °C for 5 d and then stored at 4 °C. Inoculum was prepared by suspending the spores from a PDA slant by adding sterile distilled water to give a final spore count of 1×10 6 spores/ml. Unless indicated otherwise, all chemicals and reagents were purchased from Huadong Medicine Co., Ltd. Equipment Chemical Reagent Branch (Hangzhou, China). SSF for xylanase production 2 Wheat bran was purchased from a local market and used as the solid substrate in the experiments. The fermentation medium was made by adding 10 g of wheat bran to a 300-ml Erlenmeyer flask, then mixed with 10 ml of additive nutrient solution (changed according to experimental needs) to give the final moisture ratio of 1:1 (w/v). After sterilization by autoclaving at 121 °C for 30 min, the medium in the flask was cooled down and inoculated with 1 ml spores suspension, then incubated at 28 °C for 48 h. To assess the effects of medium ingredients on the production of xylanase by using PBD and CCD, the composition of the nutrient solution varied according to the experimental designs. PBD for valuating the factors effect 2 There are a range of factors that need to be tested for their importance in xylanase production. PBD is a useful tool to screen ‘ n ’ variables (‘ n −3’ actual factors and ‘3’ invented variables for estimating errors) in just ‘ n +1’ experiments (Plackett and Burman, 1946 1946 ), which will reduce the enormous total number of experiments in comparison with full factorial designs which require 2 N ( N denotes the number of factors) experiments. The factors investigated in the current study included eight easily metabolized sugars (glucose, xylose, maltose, galactose, lactose, sucrose, mannose and raffinose), seven nitrogen sources (yeast extract, peptone, beef extract, (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 , NaNO 2 , NaNO 3 and urea) and five salt additives (CaCl 2 , FeSO 4 , Na 2 CO 3 , MgSO 4 and KH 2 PO 4 ). Each variable was tested at two levels. The high level was 5 g/L (+) and the low level was 0 g/L (−). The impact of each variable on xylanase activity was estimated based on comparison of the difference in the mean between the high level (+) and the low level (−). CCD for ingredient optimization 2 Based on the results from PBD experiments, three factors that significantly affected the xylanase production were identified and optimized further using the response surface methodology (RSM). The CCD with three factors and five levels including six replicates at the centre point was used to fit the second order response surface. Table 1 1 shows the factors and values. This methodology allows the modeling of a second-order equation that describes the process. Xylanase production was analyzed by multiple regressions through the least squares method to fit the following equation: $$Y = a_0 + \sum {a_i x_i } + \sum {a_{ii} x_i^2 } + \sum {a_{ij} x_i x_j }$$ , where Y represents response variable, a 0 is the interception coefficient, a i is the coefficient of the linear effect, a ii is the coefficient of quadratic effect and a ij is the coefficient of interaction effect. x i and x j denote the coded levels of variable X i and X j in experiments. The variable X i was coded as x i according to the following transformation equation: x i =( X i − X 0 )/Δ X i , where x i is the dimensionless coded value of the variable X i , X 0 is the value of X i at the center point, and Δ X i is the step change. 2 Coded value x i 3 Independent variables X i (g/L) Urea ( i =1) Na 2 CO 3 ( i =2) MgSO 4 ( i =3) −1.68 23.18 2.64 4.64 −1 30.00 4.00 6.00 0 40.00 6.00 8.00 1 50.00 8.00 10.00 1.68 56.82 9.36 11.36 Crude enzyme extraction 2 After 48 h incubation the sample was transferred into the drier at 40 °C until its moisture content of the medium was below 10%, then pulverized through a 0.25-mm sieve. A 1 g sample was soaked with 160 ml distilled water and kept in 40 °C water bath for 30 min. The enzyme extract was filtered by a Whatman #1 analytical filter and the suitable dilution was stored at 4 °C for further analysis. Xylanase assay 2 The xylanase activity was determined using Oat spelts xylan (Sigma Co., USA) as substrate. The reducing sugars produced were quantified by the dinitrosalicylic acid method using D-xylose as standard. In brief, the reaction containing 0.5 ml of appropriate enzyme solution and 0.5 ml of 1% (w/v) oat spelts xylan (pH 5.0 acetate buffer) was incubated in a water bath at 40 °C for 15 min, then determinated by adding 1.5 ml of dinitrosalicylic acid solution. After incubation in a boiling bath for 5 min, the liberated reducing sugars were measured at 540 nm wavelength with spectrophotometer (VIS-7220). One unit (U) of xylanase activity was defined as the amount of enzyme that released 1 μmol of xylose per minute under the assay conditions. Xylanase production of fermentation was expressed as U/g dry substrate. Statistical analysis 2 Quantification of enzyme activity was carried out in duplicate experiments and the mean values were given. The significance of each variable in the PBD experiment was determined by applying the Student’s t -test using MINITAB statistical software (6sigma, Mb13). For the CCD experiment the working parameters were calculated and generated response surface graphs using MINITAB statistical software. The accuracy and general ability of the above polynomial model could be evaluated by the determination coefficient ( R 2 ). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 1 PBD and response values 2 PBD for 20 factors made a total of 24 experimental treatments. The PBD factors and response values are listed in Table 2 2 . From the listed data, treatment 11 with A−B−C+D−E+F−G−H+J+K−L−M+N+O−P+Q−R+S+T+U+ gave a better value than the others. A: Glucose; B: Xylose; C: Maltose; D: Lactose; E: Sucrose; F: Mannose; G: Galactose; H: Yeast extract; J: Peptone; K: Raffinose; L: Beef extract; M: (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 ; N: KH 2 PO 4 ; O: MgSO 4 ; P: FeSO 4 ; Q: CaCl 2 ; R: Na 2 CO 3 ; S: NaNO 2 ; T: NaNO 3 ; U: Urea 2 Trial 20 Coded value x i 2 Y (U/g dry substrate) A B C D E F G H J K L M N O P Q R S T U 1 1 −1 1 −1 −1 1 1 −1 −1 1 1 −1 1 −1 1 1 1 1 1 −1 6048 2 −1 −1 −1 −1 1 −1 1 −1 −1 1 1 −1 −1 1 1 −1 1 −1 1 1 6628 3 −1 1 −1 1 −1 −1 1 1 −1 −1 1 1 −1 1 −1 1 1 1 1 1 7344 4 −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 5466 5 1 −1 1 −1 1 1 1 1 1 −1 −1 −1 −1 1 −1 1 −1 −1 1 1 6932 6 1 −1 1 1 1 1 1 −1 −1 −1 −1 1 −1 1 −1 −1 1 1 −1 −1 5934 7 −1 −1 1 1 −1 −1 1 1 −1 1 −1 1 1 1 1 1 −1 −1 −1 −1 5722 8 −1 −1 1 1 −1 1 −1 1 1 1 1 1 −1 −1 −1 −1 1 −1 1 −1 7164 9 1 −1 −1 1 1 −1 −1 1 1 −1 1 −1 1 1 1 1 1 −1 −1 −1 6242 10 1 −1 −1 −1 −1 1 −1 1 −1 −1 1 1 −1 −1 1 1 −1 1 −1 1 6068 11 −1 −1 1 −1 1 −1 −1 1 1 −1 −1 1 1 −1 1 −1 1 1 1 1 7626 12 −1 1 1 −1 −1 1 1 −1 1 −1 1 1 1 1 1 −1 −1 −1 −1 1 6118 13 1 1 −1 1 −1 1 1 1 1 1 −1 −1 −1 −1 1 −1 1 −1 −1 1 6162 14 1 1 −1 −1 1 1 −1 1 −1 1 1 1 1 1 −1 −1 −1 −1 1 −1 6454 15 1 1 1 1 1 −1 −1 −1 −1 1 −1 1 −1 −1 1 1 −1 −1 1 1 5798 16 1 −1 −1 1 1 −1 1 −1 1 1 1 1 1 −1 −1 −1 −1 1 −1 1 6014 17 1 1 1 −1 −1 −1 −1 1 −1 1 −1 −1 1 1 −1 −1 1 1 −1 1 6682 18 −1 1 −1 1 1 1 1 1 −1 −1 −1 −1 1 −1 1 −1 −1 1 1 −1 5950 19 −1 1 −1 −1 1 1 −1 −1 1 1 −1 1 −1 1 1 1 1 1 −1 −1 5630 20 1 1 −1 −1 −1 −1 1 −1 1 −1 −1 1 1 −1 −1 1 1 −1 1 −1 6270 21 −1 1 1 −1 1 −1 1 1 1 1 1 −1 −1 −1 −1 1 −1 1 −1 −1 5342 22 1 1 1 1 −1 −1 −1 −1 1 −1 1 −1 −1 1 1 −1 −1 1 1 −1 6350 23 −1 1 1 1 1 1 −1 −1 −1 −1 1 −1 1 −1 −1 1 1 −1 −1 1 5408 24 −1 −1 −1 1 −1 1 −1 −1 1 1 −1 −1 1 1 −1 1 −1 1 1 1 6600 Table 3 3 shows test factors and the rank of significance. Among them the reliability of NaNO 3 , yeast extract, urea, Na 2 CO 3 , MgSO 4 , CaCl 2 , peptone, xylose, (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 , sucrose and raffinose reached 90%, suggesting a significant effect on xylanase production. When the concentrations of CaCl 2 , xylose, sucrose and raffinose were increased, xylanase production declined. In contrast, positive effects on xylanase production were observed when the levels of NaNO 3 , yeast extract, urea, Na 2 CO 3 , MgSO 4 , peptone and (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 were increased. The factors resulting in a negative effect on xylanase production were no longer taken into account, while the positive factors were included in the next CCD optimization. A: Glucose; B: Xylose; C: Maltose; D: Lactose; E: Sucrose; F: Mannose; G: Galactose; H: Yeast extract; J: Peptone; K: Raffinose; L: Beef extract; M: (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 ; N: KH 2 PO 4 ; O: MgSO 4 ; P: FeSO 4 ; Q: CaCl 2 ; R: Na 2 CO 3 ; S: NaNO 2 ; T: NaNO 3 ; U: Urea Variable Coefficient t -test P > | t | Ranking Interception 6248 272.46 0 A −1.84 −0.08 0.943 20 B −122.34 −5.34 0.013 7 C 12.34 0.53 0.631 19 D −24.00 −1.05 0.372 16 E −84.84 −3.71 0.034 10 F −42.34 −1.85 0.161 15 G −42.66 −1.87 0.158 14 H 226.00 9.85 0.002 2 J 122.84 5.36 0.013 7 K −61.00 −2.66 0.076 11 L 17.00 0.75 0.508 17 M 97.16 4.24 0.024 9 N 13.16 888.90 0.570 18 O 138.34 6.03 0.009 5 P −52.84 −2.30 0.105 12 Q −131.00 −5.71 0.011 6 R 180.16 7.84 0.004 4 S 51.00 2.23 0.112 13 T 349.00 15.21 0.001 1 U 200.34 8.73 0.003 3 It was postulated that the positive effects of NaNO 3 , yeast extract, urea, peptone and (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 on xylanase production could be attributed to the requirement for nitrogen sources during fermentation, whereas beef extract and NaNO 2 had little effect. The optimal nitrogen source for xylanase production was diversified depending on the microorganisms tested. It was reported that Aspergillus fischeri Fxn 1, Thermomyces lanuginosus D2W3, Aspergillus terreus and Aspergillus sp. Zh-26 can use (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 and NaNO 2 as the best optimal nitrogen sources (Ghanem et al., 2000 2000 ; Senthilkumar et al., 2005 2005 ; Sonia et al., 2005 2005 ; Li et al., 2007c 2007c ), while Paecilomyces themophila J18 used yeast extract as the best nitrogen source (Yang et al., 2006 2006 ). Based on our knowledge it was the first report showing that NaNO 3 , yeast extract and urea have the most significant effect on xylanase production. For inorganic nitrogen sources like NaNO 2 , it was reported that this could reduce sporulation by decreasing the conidiation level (Sanchez and Pilosof, 2000 2000 ). Senthilkumar et al.( 2005 2005 ) found that NaNO 2 has a significant effect on xylanase production by Aspergillus fischeri Fxn 1, and that the reduced level of protease activity was directly responsible for the retention of xylanase activity in the optimized medium. In current study NaNO 2 had no significant effect on xylanase production. A fermentation medium lacking an exogenous supply of nitrogen yielded relatively high enzyme activity, indicating that the substrate already supplied the organism with an adequate amount of nitrogen. Metabolizable sugars such as glucose, xylose, sucrose, lactose, maltose, raffinose, galactose and mannose demonstrated different influences on xylanase production for different microorganisms. Glucose, maltose and xylose acted as the induction materials for a few strains but showed repression for other strains (Gessesse and Mamo, 1999 1999 ). In contrast, galactose acted as the repression material for most strains (Sun et al., 2007 2007 ). Wheat bran systems were resistant to catabolic repression even at high concentrations of glucose (Gessesse and Mamo, 1999 1999 ; de Souza et al., 2001 2001 ). In the current experiment, only maltose had a positive but not statistically significant effect on xylanase production by A . niger XY-1. Other sugars such as xylose, sucrose and raffinose showed a significantly negative effect. A slight repression effect was observed with galactose, mannose and lactose, while, due to its wheat bran buffering capacity, glucose showed little effect on xylanase production. Ca 2+ was found to be the essential element for xylanase productivity and stability by Aspergillus terreus and Chainia sp. (Bandivadekar and Deshpande, 1994 1994 ; Ghanem et al., 2000 2000 ). However, in the current study a negative effect was detected on xylanase production. All these results indicated the need for a nutrients experiment for xylanase production using different strains. Optimal nitrogen source for A . niger XY-1 2 From PBD, NaNO 3 , yeast extract and urea were recognized as the suitable nitrogen sources for A . niger XY-1 xylanase production. To compare those three nitrogen sources, different concentrations of NaNO 3 , yeast extract and urea were tested for xylanase production. The fermentation medium was composed of 10 g of wheat bran and different concentrations of the nitrogen sources. As indicated in Table 4 4 , the maximal xylanase enzyme activity reached 9543, 9432 and 9531 U/g dry substrate when 40 g/L of NaNO 3 , 300 g/L of yeast extract and 30 g/L of urea were added respectively. It was interesting to note that the maximal enzyme activity achieved by the three nitrogen sources was similar, while the concentration of yeast extract in the medium was much higher than those of NaNO 3 and urea. For future cost concerns, urea was chosen as the best nitrogen source. Li et al.( 2007d 2007d ) reported that Alternaria mali ND-16 used NH 4 Cl and urea as nitrogen sources for xylanase production, but NH 4 Cl acted as the primary nitrogen source and urea acted as the secondary nitrogen source. Nitrogen source Concentration (g/L) Xylanase activity (U/g dry substrate) NaNO 3 10 6512±110 20 6934±92 30 7746±118 40 9543±59 50 7464±68 Yeast extract 50 5502±95 100 7109±62 200 7642±130 300 9432±200 400 4579±64 Urea 10 6620±122 20 7987±31 30 9531±189 40 7970±128 50 4776±105 Outcome of CCD experiment 2 CCD is a very useful tool for determining the optimal level of medium constituents and their interaction. Based on the results from PBD and nitrogen optimal experiments, urea, Na 2 CO 3 and MgSO 4 were selected for the further evaluation of their effects on xylanase production by CCD. Table 1 1 shows the maximum and minimum levels of variables chosen in the CCD. For RSM analysis based on the CCD, 20 experiments were carried out and their response values with different combinations of three factors are demonstrated in Table 5 5 . 2 Run No. 3 Coded variables 2 Response (U/g dry substrate) x 1 (urea) x 2 (Na 2 CO 3 ) x 3 (MgSO 4 ) Actual Predicted 1 −1 1 1 13110 12842.1 2 0 0 0 14158 13958.2 3 0 0 −1.68 13110 13328.6 4 −1 −1 1 13022 12759.0 5 −1 −1 −1 12948 12274.7 6 0 0 0 13922 13958.2 7 1 1 −1 10900 10753.4 8 −1 1 −1 12936 13198.8 9 0 0 0 13684 13958.2 10 0 0 0 14084 13958.2 11 0 −1.68 0 13048 13892.4 12 0 0 0 13860 13958.2 13 1 −1 −1 12774 12632.4 14 1 −1 1 14158 13485.7 15 0 0 0 14144 13958.2 16 −1.68 0 0 10988 11351.0 17 1.68 0 0 9690 9907.4 18 0 1.68 0 12648 12383.9 19 0 0 1.68 13384 13745.8 20 1 1 1 10502 10765.8 From Table 5 5 it can be seen that the centre points were set up at runs of 2, 6, 9, 10, 12, 15 and the maximum xylanase production was achieved at the centre points. The minimum xylanase production (9690 U/g dry substrate) was detected in run No. 17. From multiple regression analysis, we found that the second-order polynomial equation can explain xylanase production regardless of the significance of coefficients: $$Y = 13958 - 430x_1 - 449x_2 + 124x_3 - 1179x_1^2 - 291x_2^2 - 149x_3^2 - 701x_1 x_2 + 92x_1 x_3 - 210x_2 x_3$$ , where Y is the response value. In current experiment, Y value is the level of xylanase production (U/g dry substrate). x 1 , x 2 and x 3 represent the coded levels of urea, Na 2 CO 3 and MgSO 4 , respectively. The statistical significance of the regression model was checked by F -test, and the analysis of variance for the response surface quadratic model is shown in Table 6 6 . The model was highly significant, as manifested by the F -value and the probability value [( P total model > F )=0.000]. The linear terms, quadratic terms and cross terms were all statistically significant based on the F -value. The data from the analysis of variance showed that the second-order model was well fitted to the experimental data. The goodness of fit was manifested by the determination coefficient ( R 2 ). In this case the R 2 value of 92.2% indicated that the response model can explain 92.2% of the total variations. In general, a regression model having an R 2 value higher than 0.9 is considered to have a very high correlation (Haaland, 1989 1989 ). The value of the adjusted determination coefficient ( R Adj 2 =85.3%) was also high enough to indicate the significance of the model. Source df ∑ x 2 (×10 6 ) F -value P > F Linear product 3 5.47 7.18 0.007 Quadratic product 3 20.43 26.78 0.000 Cross product 3 4.35 5.70 0.015 Total model 9 30.26 13.22 0.000 Total error 10 2.54 The Student’s t -distribution and the corresponding P -value, along with the parameter, are given in Table 7 7 . The P -values are used as a tool to check the significance of each coefficient, which will help to explain the pattern of mutual interactions between the best variables. The parameter coefficient and the corresponding P -value suggested that, among the independent variables, x 1 (urea) and x 2 (Na 2 CO 3 ) have a significant effect on xylanase production. Source Coefficient SE t -test P > | t | Interception 13958 205.7 67.868 0.000 x 1 −430 136.5 −3.147 0.010 x 2 −449 136.5 −3.288 0.008 x 3 124 136.5 0.910 0.384 x 1 2 −1179 133.1 −8.864 0.000 x 2 2 −291 133.1 −2.183 0.054 x 3 2 −149 133.1 −1.121 0.288 x 1 x 2 −701 178.3 −3.930 0.003 x 1 x 3 92 178.3 0.517 0.616 x 2 x 3 −210 178.3 −1.179 0.266 The 3D response surfaces plots were employed to determine the interaction of the basal medium components and the optimum levels that have the most significant effect on xylanase production. Fig. 1 1 illustrated the relationship between the response and the experimental data. Fig. 1a 1a describes the effects of Na 2 CO 3 and MgSO 4 on xylanase production, when urea was fixed at its middle level (40 g/L). From Fig. 1a 1a it can be seen that the yield of xylanase production decreased gradually while the Na 2 CO 3 concentration increased at a high level of MgSO 4 . With the increase in the concentration of MgSO 4 , the xylanase production steadily increased at a low concentration of Na 2 CO 3 . This observation was consistent with the results demonstrated in Table 7 7 , which suggest a negative interaction of Na 2 CO 3 and MgSO 4 . Fig. 1b 1b demonstrates the effects of urea and Na 2 CO 3 on xylanase production when the MgSO 4 concentration was fixed at its middle level (8 g/L). The xylanase production was predominantly affected by the urea concentration and the interaction between urea and Na 2 CO 3 was significantly negative for xylanase production. Similarly Fig. 1c 1c shows the effects of urea and MgSO 4 on the xylanase production when the concentration of Na 2 CO 3 was set at the middle level (6 g/L). In general it is necessary to compare the fitted model with the real system and confirm that the fitted model provides an adequate approximation. Unless the model shows an adequate fit, proceeding further with a fitted response surface may end in misleading results. The residuals from the least squares fit play an important role in judging the model adequacy. Fig. 2 2 presents a plot of residuals versus the predicted response. The plot shows the residuals scattered randomly on the display, suggesting that the variance of the original observation was constant for all values of xylanase enzyme activity ( Y ). Because the plot of xylanase production was satisfactory, the conclusion can be drawn that the empirical model was adequate to describe the xylanase activity by response surface. The prediction from response optimizer analysis gives a maximum level of xylanase as 14374.6 U/g dry substrate in the medium containing x 1 (urea)=0.163 (41.63 g/L), x 2 (Na 2 CO 3 )=−1.68 (2.64 g/L), x 3 (MgSO 4 )=1.338 (10.68 g/L). Verification of the predicted values was conducted by using optimal conditions in fermentation. The practical corresponding response was 14637 U/g dry substrate, which corroborated the validity and the effectiveness of the current model. Time course curve 2 To evaluate the effect of the optimized medium on xylanase production, the time course of enzyme activities was conducted for 72 h. Maximum production was observed at 48 h (Fig. 3 3 ). Further incubation beyond this time point did not show any improvement in any aspect of enzyme production. In comparison with other xylanase production strains (Table 8 8 ), A . niger XY-1 showed a shortened fermentation time and a relatively high enzyme yield. Strains Xylanase activity (U/g dry substrate) Fermentation time (h) References Aspergillus XY-1 14637 48 This work Aspergillus fischeri Fxn1 1024 72 Senthilkumar et al., 2005 2005 Thermomyces lanuginosus D 2 W 3 48000 144 Sonia et al., 2005 2005 Bacillus sp. 720 72 Gessesse and Mamo, 1999 1999 Aspergillus niger N218 6320 64 Wu et al., 2005 2005 CONCLUSION 1 Xylanase production by A . niger XY-1 was optimized using response analysis, which was found to be an efficient tool. From PBD and nitrogen screening experiments, urea, Na 2 CO 3 and MgSO 4 were shown to be critical components for xylanase production by A . niger XY-1. The CCD experiment estimated the optimum values of the critical components for maximum xylanase production. Under the following conditions: x 1 (urea)=0.163 (41.63 g/L), x 2 (Na 2 CO 3 )=−1.68 (2.64 g/L), x 3 (MgSO 4 )=1.338 (10.68 g/L) and with a substrate of wheat bran, the predicted xylanase activity was 14374.6 U/g dry substrate. 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