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Yeast biotechnology

Edited by Prof Diethard Mattanovich

Microbial Cell Factories invites submissions to the recently launched thematic series on “Yeast biotechnology”.

Mankind has exploited the metabolic activities of yeasts in baking and brewing for several millennia. The invention of the fed-batch technology for production of bakers' yeast has been a cornerstone of modern biotechnology, enabling the development of efficient production processes for antibiotics, biopharmaceuticals and technical enzymes. Alcoholic fermentation, on the other hand, is a model for microbial metabolite production and has become a major research focus for the manufacturing of biofuels. Expanding from our knowledge on bakers' yeast, diverse yeast species are explored today. The series highlights the latest research to produce biopharmaceuticals, enzymes, alcohols, organic acids, flavours and fine chemicals, underlining the huge potential of yeast biotechnology.

This collection of articles has not been sponsored and articles have undergone the journal’s standard peer-review process. The Guest Editors declare no competing interests.

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  3. Targeting of cellular proteins to the extracellular environment is directed by a secretory signal sequence located at the N-terminus of a secretory protein. These signal sequences usually contain an N-terminal...

    Authors: Tohru Yarimizu, Mikiko Nakamura, Hisashi Hoshida and Rinji Akada
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2015 14:20
    Content type: Research Published on:

  4. The hERG potassium channel is essential for repolarization of the cardiac action potential. Due to this vital function, absence of unintended and potentially life-threatening interactions with hERG is ...

    Authors: Karen Molbaek, Peter Scharff-Poulsen, Claus Helix-Nielsen, Dan A Klaerke and Per Amstrup Pedersen
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2015 14:15
    Content type: Research Published on:

  5. The bioethanol production system used in Brazil is based on the fermentation of sucrose from sugarcane feedstock by highly adapted strains of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Bacterial contaminants present in ...

    Authors: Osmar V Carvalho-Netto, Marcelo F Carazzolle, Luciana S Mofatto, Paulo JPL Teixeira, Melline F Noronha, Luige AL Calderón, Piotr A Mieczkowski, Juan Lucas Argueso and Gonçalo AG Pereira
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2015 14:13
    Content type: Research Published on:

  6. Insufficient incorporation of heme is considered a central impeding cause in the recombinant production of active heme proteins. Currently, two approaches are commonly taken to overcome this bottleneck; metabo...

    Authors: Florian W Krainer, Simona Capone, Martin Jäger, Thomas Vogl, Michaela Gerstmann, Anton Glieder, Christoph Herwig and Oliver Spadiut
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2015 14:4
    Content type: Technical Notes Published on:

  7. Pichia pastoris is a prominent host for recombinant protein production, amongst other things due to its capability of glycosylation. However, N-linked glycans on recombinant proteins get ...

    Authors: Christoph Gmeiner, Amirhossein Saadati, Daniel Maresch, Stanimira Krasteva, Manuela Frank, Friedrich Altmann, Christoph Herwig and Oliver Spadiut
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2015 14:1
    Content type: Research Published on:

  8. The response of bacteria, yeast, and mammalian and insects cells to oxidative stress is a topic that has been studied for many years. However, in most the reported studies, the oxidative stress was caused by c...

    Authors: Antonino Baez and Joseph Shiloach
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2014 13:181
    Content type: Review Published on:

  10. The yeast Pichia pastoris (P. pastoris) has become a popular `cell factory' for producing heterologous proteins, but production widely varies among proteins. Cultivation temperature is frequently reported to sign...

    Authors: Yongjun Zhong, Lu Yang, Yugang Guo, Fang Fang, Dong Wang, Rui Li, Ming Jiang, Wenyao Kang, Jiajia Ma, Jie Sun and Weihua Xiao
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2014 13:163
    Content type: Research Published on:

  11. The great interest in the production of highly pure lactic acid enantiomers comes from the application of polylactic acid (PLA) for the production of biodegradable plastics. Yeasts can be considered as alterna...

    Authors: Laura Dato, Nadia Maria Berterame, Maria Antonietta Ricci, Paola Paganoni, Luigi Palmieri, Danilo Porro and Paola Branduardi
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2014 13:147
    Content type: Research Published on:

  12. Bioethanol produced by the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is currently one of the most promising alternatives to conventional transport fuels. Lignocellulosic hemicelluloses obtained after hydrothermal pretreatme...

    Authors: Tomohisa Hasunuma, Yoshimi Hori, Takatoshi Sakamoto, Misa Ochiai, Haruyo Hatanaka and Akihiko Kondo
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2014 13:145
    Content type: Research Published on:

  13. α-2,6-sialyltransferase catalyzes the terminal step of complex N-glycan biosynthesis on human glycoproteins, attaching sialic acid to outermost galactosyl residues on otherwise fully assembled branched glycans. T...

    Authors: Doris Ribitsch, Sabine Zitzenbacher, Peter Augustin, Katharina Schmölzer, Tibor Czabany, Christiane Luley-Goedl, Marco Thomann, Christine Jung, Harald Sobek, Rainer Müller, Bernd Nidetzky and Helmut Schwab
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2014 13:138
    Content type: Research Published on:

  14. Norovirus virus-like particles (NoV VLPs) have recently been explored as potential vaccine platforms due to their ability to produce an effective immune response. Expression of the main structural protein, VP1, l...

    Authors: Jaime Tomé-Amat, Lauren Fleischer, Stephanie A Parker, Cameron L Bardliving and Carl A Batt
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2014 13:134
    Content type: Research Published on:

  15. Pichia pastoris is a widely-used host for recombinant protein production; expression is typically driven by methanol-inducible alcohol oxidase (AOX) promoters. Recently this system has become an important source...

    Authors: Zharain Bawa, Sarah J Routledge, Mohammed Jamshad, Michelle Clare, Debasmita Sarkar, Ian Dickerson, Markus Ganzlin, David R Poyner and Roslyn M Bill
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2014 13:127
    Content type: Research Published on:

  16. The methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris is frequently used for the production of recombinant proteins. However, expression levels can vary depending on the target protein. Allowing for simultaneous regulation of...

    Authors: Claudia Ruth, Markus Buchetics, Viktorija Vidimce, Daniela Kotz, Stefan Naschberger, Diethard Mattanovich, Harald Pichler and Brigitte Gasser
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2014 13:120
    Content type: Research Published on:

  17. Budding yeasts are often used to secrete foreign proteins, but the efficiency is variable. To identify roadblocks in the yeast secretory pathway, we used a monomeric superfolder GFP (msGFP) as a visual tracer in

    Authors: Ivy Fitzgerald and Benjamin S Glick
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2014 13:125
    Content type: Research Published on:

  18. Recent advances in synthesizing valuable chemicals such as organic acids from low-cost renewable biomass through microbial fermentation have attracted great attention. However, the toxicity of organic acids pr...

    Authors: Han Xiao, Zengyi Shao, Yu Jiang, Sudhanshu Dole and Huimin Zhao
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2014 13:121
    Content type: Research Published on:

  19. Styrene is an important building-block petrochemical and monomer used to produce numerous plastics. Whereas styrene bioproduction by Escherichia coli was previously reported, the long-term potential of ...

    Authors: Rebekah McKenna, Brian Thompson, Shawn Pugh and David R Nielsen
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2014 13:123
    Content type: Research Published on:

  20. The methylotrophic yeast, Hansenula polymorpha is an industrially important microorganism, and belongs to the best studied yeast species with well-developed tools for ...

    Authors: Olena O Kurylenko, Justyna Ruchala, Orest B Hryniv, Charles A Abbas, Kostyantyn V Dmytruk and Andriy A Sibirny
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2014 13:122
    Content type: Research Published on:

  21. Under N-limiting conditions, Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains display a substantial variability in their biomass yield from consumed nitrogen -in particular wine yeasts exhibit high growth abilities- that is corr...

    Authors: Lucie Crépin, Isabelle Sanchez, Thibault Nidelet, Sylvie Dequin and Carole Camarasa
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2014 13:109
    Content type: Research Published on:

  22. One-pot multi-step biocatalysis is advantageous over step-by-step synthesis as it reduces the number of process operation units, leading to significant process intensification. Whole-cell biocatalysis with met...

    Authors: Nora Weber, Marie Gorwa-Grauslund and Magnus Carlquist
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2014 13:118
    Content type: Research Published on:

  23. Recombinant antibodies are highly successful in many different pathological conditions and currently enjoy overwhelming recognition of their potential. There are a wide variety of protein expression systems av...

    Authors: Ana Blanco-Toribio, Javier Lacadena, Natalia Nuñez-Prado, Ana Álvarez-Cienfuegos, Maider Villate, Marta Compte, Laura Sanz, Francisco J Blanco and Luis Álvarez-Vallina
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2014 13:116
    Content type: Research Published on:

  24. Ergot alkaloids are a group of highly bioactive molecules produced by a number of filamentous fungi. These compounds have been intensely studied for decades, mainly due to their deleterious effects in contamin...

    Authors: Curt AF Nielsen, Christophe Folly, Anaëlle Hatsch, Andrea Molt, Hartwig Schröder, Sarah E O’Connor and Michael Naesby
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2014 13:95
    Content type: Research Published on:

  25. A previously discovered mutant of Saccharomyces cerevisiae alcohol dehydrogenase 1 (Adh1p) was shown to enable a unique NADH-dependent reduction of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), a well-known inhibitor of yeast f...

    Authors: Boaz Laadan, Valeria Wallace-Salinas, Åsa Janfalk Carlsson, João RM Almeida, Peter Rådström and Marie F Gorwa-Grauslund
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2014 13:112
    Content type: Research Published on:

  26. Bioplastics, like polylactic acid (PLA), are renewable alternatives for petroleum-based plastics. Lactic acid, the monomer of PLA, has traditionally been produced biotechnologically with bacteria. Wi...

    Authors: Kari T Koivuranta, Marja Ilmén, Marilyn G Wiebe, Laura Ruohonen, Pirkko Suominen and Merja Penttilä
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2014 13:107
    Content type: Research Published on:

  27. An ideal immobilized biocatalyst for the industrial-scale production of invert sugar should stably operate at elevated temperatures (60-70°C) and high sucrose concentrations (above 60%, w/v). Commercial invert...

    Authors: Duniesky Martínez, Carmen Menéndez, Félix M Echemendia, Enrique R Pérez, Luis E Trujillo, Alina Sobrino, Ricardo Ramírez, Yamira Quintero and Lázaro Hernández
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2014 13:87
    Content type: Research Published on:

  28. Saccharomyces cerevisiae is the most relevant yeast species conducting the alcoholic fermentation that takes place during winemaking. Although the physiology of this model organism has been extensively studied, ...

    Authors: Felícitas Vázquez-Lima, Paulina Silva, Antonio Barreiro, Rubén Martínez-Moreno, Pilar Morales, Manuel Quirós, Ramón González, Joan Albiol and Pau Ferrer
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2014 13:85
    Content type: Research Published on:

  29. Microbial lipids represent a valuable alternative feedstock for biodiesel production when oleaginous microbes are cultured with inexpensive substrates in processes exhibiting high yield and productivity. In th...

    Authors: Stefano Raimondi, Maddalena Rossi, Alan Leonardi, Michele Maria Bianchi, Teresa Rinaldi and Alberto Amaretti
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2014 13:83
    Content type: Research Published on:

  30. Old Yellow Enzymes (OYEs) are flavin-dependent enoate reductases (EC 1.6.99.1) that catalyze the stereoselective hydrogenation of electron-poor alkenes. Their ability to generate up to two stereocenters by the tr...

    Authors: Diego Romano, Martina Letizia Contente, Francesco Molinari, Ivano Eberini, Erica Ruvutuso, Cristina Sensi, Alberto Amaretti, Maddalena Rossi and Stefano Raimondi
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2014 13:60
    Content type: Research Published on:

  31. Plant-derived biomass is a potential alternative to fossil feedstocks for a greener economy. Enzymatic saccharification of biomass has been studied extensively and endoglucanases have been found to be a prereq...

    Authors: Anikó Várnai, Campbell Tang, Oskar Bengtsson, Andrew Atterton, Geir Mathiesen and Vincent GH Eijsink
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2014 13:57
    Content type: Research Published on:

  33. The yeast Kluyveromyces marxianus features specific traits that render it attractive for industrial applications. These include production of ethanol which, together with thermotolerance and the ability to grow w...

    Authors: Lorenzo Signori, Simone Passolunghi, Laura Ruohonen, Danilo Porro and Paola Branduardi
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2014 13:51
    Content type: Research Published on:

  34. During industrial fermentation of lignocellulose residues to produce bioethanol, microorganisms are exposed to a number of factors that influence productivity. These include inhibitory compounds produced by th...

    Authors: Tithira T Wimalasena, Darren Greetham, Marcus E Marvin, Gianni Liti, Yogeshwar Chandelia, Andrew Hart, Edward J Louis, Trevor G Phister, Gregory A Tucker and Katherine A Smart
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2014 13:47
    Content type: Research Published on:

  35. Due to an increasing demand of transportation fuels, a lower availability of cheap crude oil and a lack of sustainability of fossil fuels, a gradual shift from petroleum based fuels towards alternative and ren...

    Authors: Bouke Wim de Jong, Shuobo Shi, Verena Siewers and Jens Nielsen
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2014 13:39
    Content type: Research Published on:

  36. To effectively convert lignocellulosic feedstocks to bio-ethanol anaerobic growth on xylose constitutes an essential trait that Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains normally do not adopt through the selective integra...

    Authors: Mario Klimacek, Elisabeth Kirl, Stefan Krahulec, Karin Longus, Vera Novy and Bernd Nidetzky
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2014 13:37
    Content type: Research Published on:

  37. In Pichia pastoris bioprocess engineering, classic approaches for clone selection and bioprocess optimization at small/micro scale using the promoter of the alcohol oxidase 1 gene (P AOX1 ...

    Authors: Johannes Hemmerich, Núria Adelantado, José Manuel Barrigón, Xavier Ponte, Astrid Hörmann, Pau Ferrer, Frank Kensy and Francisco Valero
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2014 13:36
    Content type: Research Published on:

  38. Yeasts are regarded as the first microorganisms used by humans to process food and alcoholic beverages. The technology developed out of these ancient processes has been the basis for modern industrial biotechn...

    Authors: Diethard Mattanovich, Michael Sauer and Brigitte Gasser
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2014 13:34
    Content type: Commentary Published on:

  39. Scale-up to industrial production level of a fermentation process occurs after optimization at small scale, a critical transition for successful technology transfer and commercialization of a product of intere...

    Authors: Zhibiao Fu, Thomas D Verderame, Julie M Leighton, Brante P Sampey, Edward R Appelbaum, Pramatesh S Patel and Juan C Aon
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2014 13:32
    Content type: Research Published on:

  40. Pichia pastoris is a popular yeast preferably employed for secretory protein production. Secretion is not always efficient and endoplasmic retention of proteins with aberrant folding properties, or when produced...

    Authors: Ana Letícia Vanz, Manfred Nimtz and Ursula Rinas
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2014 13:23
    Content type: Research Published on:

  42. There has been much research on the bioconversion of xylose found in lignocellulosic biomass to ethanol by genetically engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae. However, the rate of ethanol production from xylose in t...

    Authors: Akinori Matsushika, Tetsuya Goshima and Tamotsu Hoshino
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2014 13:16
    Content type: Research Published on:

  43. Nowadays, carotenoids are valuable molecules in different industries such as chemical, pharmaceutical, poultry, food and cosmetics. These pigments not only can act as vitamin A precursors, but also they have c...

    Authors: Luis Carlos Mata-Gómez, Julio César Montañez, Alejandro Méndez-Zavala and Cristóbal Noé Aguilar
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2014 13:12
    Content type: Review Published on:

  45. Decades of work requiring heterologous expression of eukaryotic proteins have shown that no expression system can be considered as the panacea and the appropriate expression strategy is often protein-dependent...

    Authors: Fabien Debailleul, Cataldo Trubbia, Nancy Frederickx, Elsa Lauwers, Ahmad Merhi, Jean-Marie Ruysschaert, Bruno André and Cédric Govaerts
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2013 12:129
    Content type: Research Published on:

  46. The success of Pichia pastoris as a heterologous expression system lies predominantly in the impressive yields that can be achieved due to high volumetric productivity. However, low specific productivity still in...

    Authors: Rochelle Aw and Karen M Polizzi
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2013 12:128
    Content type: Review Published on:

  47. Moths (Lepidoptera) are highly dependent on chemical communication to find a mate. Compared to conventional unselective insecticides, synthetic pheromones have successfully served to lure male moths as a speci...

    Authors: Åsa K Hagström, Hong-Lei Wang, Marjorie A Liénard, Jean-Marc Lassance, Tomas Johansson and Christer Löfstedt
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2013 12:125
    Content type: Research Published on:

  48. Membrane protein research is frequently hampered by the low natural abundance of these proteins in cells and typically relies on recombinant gene expression. Different expression systems, like mammalian cells,...

    Authors: Mouna Guerfal, Katrien Claes, Oskar Knittelfelder, Riet De Rycke, Sepp D Kohlwein and Nico Callewaert
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2013 12:122
    Content type: Research Published on:

  49. Isobutanol is an important target for biorefinery research as a next-generation biofuel and a building block for commodity chemical production. Metabolically engineered microbial strains to produce isobutanol ...

    Authors: Fumio Matsuda, Jun Ishii, Takashi Kondo, Kengo Ida, Hironori Tezuka and Akihiko Kondo
    Citation: Microbial Cell Factories 2013 12:119
    Content type: Research Published on: