Most studies regarding the use of fungi as enzyme producers for biomass deconstruction have focused on mesophile species, whereas the potential of thermophiles has been evaluated less. This study revealed, through genome and transcriptome analyses, the genetic repertoire of the biotechnological relevant thermophile fungus
Humicola grisea
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The need for a more sustainable society has prompted the development of bio-based processes to produce fuels, chemicals, and materials in substitution for fossil-based ones. In this context, microorganisms have been employed to convert renewable carbon sources into various products. The methylotrophic yeast Komagataella phaffii has been extensively used in the production of heterologous proteins. More recently, it has been explored as a host organism to produce various chemicals through new metabolic engineering and synthetic biology tools. This review first summarizes Komagataella taxonomy and diversity and then highlights the recent approaches in cell engineering to produce renewable chemicals and proteins. Finally, strategies to optimize and develop new fermentative processes using K. phaffii as a cell factory are presented and discussed. The yeast K. phaffii shows an outstanding performance for renewable chemicals and protein production due to its ability to metabolize different carbon sources and the availability of engineering tools. Indeed, it has been employed in producing alcohols, carboxylic acids, proteins, and other compounds using different carbon sources, including glycerol, glucose, xylose, methanol, and even CO2.
Significance and Impact of the Study: Heterologous expression of bacterial xylose isomerases rarely allows Saccharomyces cerevisiae to grow on xylose as sole carbon source. Functional metagenomics led to the identification of a new xylose isomerase from the goat rumen microbiome. The gene GR-XI 1 originated from a phylum Firmicutes bacterium, and it was successfully expressed in S. cerevisiae, after codon optimization and renaming to XySC1. Expression of XySC1 allowed the yeast to grow and ferment xylose as sole carbon source. This work is an example of how functional metagenomics is a powerful approach to identify new genes that can have application in the second-generation bioethanol industry.
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