Two recombinant Komagataella phaffii (formerly Pichia pastoris) yeast strains for production of two sequential variants of EstS9 esterase from psychrotolerant bacterium Pseudomonas sp. S9, i.e. αEstS9N (a two-domain enzyme consisting of a catalytic domain and an autotransporter domain) and αEstS9Δ (a single-domain esterase) were constructed. However, only one of recombinant K. phaffii strains, namely Komagataella phaffii X-33/pPICZαestS9Δ, allowed to successfully produce and secrete recombinant αEstS9Δ enzyme outside of the host cell. The purified αEstS9Δ esterase was active towards short-chain p-nitrophenyl esters (C2–C8), with optimal activity for the acetate (C2) ester. The single-domain αEstS9Δ esterase exhibits the highest activity at 60oC and pH 9.5. In addition, the enzyme retains 90% of its activity after 3 hour incubation at 70–90oC. What should be also noted is that αEstS9Δ esterase produced in the K. phaffii expression system has a much higher specific activity (0.069 U/mg of protein) than the recombinant EstS9Δ esterase produced in an E. coli expression system (0.0025 U/mg of protein) (Wicka et al., 2016, Acta Biochim Pol 63: 117–125. https://doi.org/10.18388/abp.2015_1074).

Yeasts provide attractive host/vector systems for heterologous gene expression. The currently used yeast-based expression platforms include mesophilic and thermotolerant species. A eukaryotic expression system working at low temperatures could be particularly useful for the production of thermolabile proteins and proteins that tend to form insoluble aggregates. For this purpose, an expression system based on an Antarctic psychrotolerant yeast Debaryomyces macquariensis strain D50 that is capable of growing at temperatures ranging from 0 to 30 °C has been developed. The optimal physical culture conditions for D. macquariensis D50 in a fermenter are as follows: temperature 20 °C, pH 5.5, aeration rate of 1.5 vvm, and a stirring speed of 300 rpm. Four integrative plasmid vectors equipped with an expression cassette containing the constitutive GAP promoter and CYC1 transcriptional terminator from D. macquariensis D50 were constructed and used to clone and express a gene-encoding cold-active β-d-galactosidase of Paracoccus sp. 32d. The yield was 1150 U/L of recombinant yeast culture. Recombinant D. macquariensis D50 strains were mitotically stable under both selective and non-selective conditions. The D. macquariensis D50 host/vector system has been successfully utilized for the synthesis of heterologous thermolabile protein, and it can be an alternative to other microbial expression systems.

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