Genetically Modified Micro-Organisms for Industrial Food Enzyme Production: An Overview

Abstract

The use of food enzymes (FE) by the industrial food industry is continuously increasing. These FE are mainly obtained by microbial fermentation, for which both wild-type (WT) and genetically modified (GM) strains are used. The FE production yield can be increased by optimizing the fermentation process, either by using genetically modified micro-organism (GMM) strains or by producing recombinant enzymes. This review provides a general overview of the different methods used to produce FE preparations and how the use of GMM can increase the production yield. Additionally, information regarding the construction of these GMM strains is provided. Thereafter, an overview of the different European regulations concerning the authorization of FE preparations on the European market and the use of GMM strains is given. Potential issues related to the authorization and control of FE preparations sold on the European market are then identified and illustrated by a case study. This process highlighted the importance for control of FE preparations and the consequent need for appropriate detection methods targeting the presence of GMM, which is used in fermentation products.

Characterization of Genetically Modified Microorganisms Using Short- and Long-Read Whole-Genome Sequencing Reveals Contaminations of Related Origin in Multiple Commercial Food Enzyme Products

“…The transgenic construct harbored two AMR genes: aadD, conferring kanamycin and neomycin resistance, and ble, conferring bleomycin resistance. All elements required for normal replication [37] had remained intact, indicating that the vector was designed to be episomal rather than integrative [1] (Supp. text 2.2).…”

“…Enzymes, additives and flavorings produced by microbial fermentation are widely used and indispensable for the food and feed industry. Genetically modified microorganisms (GMM) are frequently employed to increase microbial enzyme production efficiency and/or yield [1]. However, their presence is unauthorized in the final products commercialized in the European Union (EU) food and feed chain (EC/2003/1830).…”

An ADH toolbox for raspberry ketone production from natural resources via a biocatalytic cascade

“…Furthermore, the de novo production of raspberry ketone was achieved by genetically modified E. coli or C. glutamicum strains that produce tyrosine by themselves yielding 19 mg/l (Cankar et al 2019 ) or even up to 780 mg/l raspberry ketone (Schloesser and Lambert 2018 ). A drawback of these previously described methods is that “foods that […] contain ingredients produced from GMOs” have to be labeled as, e.g., “genetically modified” according to EU law (European Parliament 2003 ; Deckers et al 2020 ), which might be deterrent to consumers.…”

Influence of Non-Thermal Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Jet on Extracellular Activity of α-Amylase in Aspergillus oryzae

“…To be used on an industrial scale, the efficient and environmentally friendly production of enzymes is essential. Wild-type and genetically modified microorganisms have been considered good producers of food enzymes because those are more stable and steadily active, compared with plant and animal enzymes [2][3][4]. However, there are still many technical barriers that have to be overcome for the industrialscale production of enzymes by microorganisms, such as low levels of enzyme production and secretion, contamination of enzymes with other components, and the instability of enzymes under certain conditions.…”