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Candida utilis and Cyberlindnera (Pichia) jadinii: yeast relatives with expanding applications

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Abstract

The yeast Candida utilis is used as a food additive and as a host for heterologous gene expression to produce various metabolites and proteins. Reliable protocols for intracellular production of recombinant proteins are available for C. utilis and have now been expanded to secrete proteins into the growth medium or to achieve surface display by linkage to a cell wall protein. A recombinant C. utilis strain was recently shown to induce oral tolerance in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis suggesting future applications in autoimmune therapy. Whole genome sequencing of C. utilis and its presumed parent Cyberlindnera (Pichia) jadinii demonstrated different ploidy but high sequence identity, consistent with identical recombinant technologies for both yeasts. C. jadinii was recently described as an antagonist to the important human fungal pathogen Candida albicans suggesting its use as a probiotic agent. The review summarizes the status of recombinant protein production in C. utilis, as well as current and future biotechnological and medical applications of C. utilis and C. jadinii.

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Acknowledgments

The work in the laboratory of the authors was funded in part by the Cluster of Industrial Biotechnology NRW CLIB2021.

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  1. Denis Tielker

    Present address: Qiagen GmbH, 40724, Hilden, Germany

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  1. Department Biologie, Molekulare Mykologie, Heinrich-Heine-Universität, Universitätsstrasse 1/26.12.01, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany

    Christoph Buerth & Joachim F. Ernst

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  1. Christoph Buerth
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Correspondence to Joachim F. Ernst.

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Buerth, C., Tielker, D. & Ernst, J.F. Candida utilis and Cyberlindnera (Pichia) jadinii: yeast relatives with expanding applications. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 100, 6981–6990 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-016-7700-8

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