Saccharomyces cerevisiae
-based expression systems, which rely on safe, food-grade strains, are low cost, simple to operate, and can be used for large-scale fermentation. However, low levels of foreign protein expression by
S. cerevisiae
have limited their widespread application. The ability of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to fold and process foreign proteins is an important factor restricting the expression of foreign proteins. In the current study, the effects of transcription factor Hac1p, which is involved in the unfolded protein response pathway, on
S. cerevisiae
-based expression of xylanase gene
xynB
from
Aspergillus niger
were examined. Overlap extension polymerase chain reaction (PCR), rDNA integration and droplet digital PCR technology were used to generate a
S. cerevisiae
strain (S8) containing eight copies of
xynB
, allowing high-yield secretory expression of xylanase. The effects of subsequent overexpression of
HAC1
in strain S8 on the expression of genes associated with protein folding in the ER were then examined using the GeXP system. Results confirmed the constitutive secretory expression of the multiple copies of
xynB
following rDNA-based integration of the expression cassette, with a maximum xylanase yield of 325 U/mL. However, overexpression of
HAC1
further improved xylanase production by strain S8, resulting in a yield of 381 U/mL.