Abstract
Promoter choice is an important step in recombinant protein production, which directly determines the expression manner as constitutive or inducible and the expression level of the recombinant protein. This study aims to investigate the applicability of heterologous yeast promoters (Kluyveromyces marxianus TPI, Hansenula polymorpha PMA, Candida tropicalis ICL, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae CUP) in Pichia pastoris. The regulation mode of the CtICL and ScCUP promoters in P. pastoris was found to be inducible and that of the KmTPI and HpPMA was constitutive. The carbon sources in which the promoters exhibited the highest activity were determined as glycerol for PMA and TPI, glucose for CUP, and ethanol for ICL. The DNA region showing the highest activity was determined as 1000 bp for all promoters by promoter deletion analysis. Results from the study demonstrate the potential of inducible and constitutive heterologous promoters allowing expression under different conditions in the P. pastoris expression system and offers alternatives to frequently used promoters.
Key points
• Heterologous promoters exhibited similar expression pattern in P. pastoris with its native host.
• HpPMA has the highest promoter activity among the heterologous promoters tested.
• Reporter gene expression with ScCUP is responsive to elevating Cu2+in P. pastoris.
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Data availability
The authors confirm that the datasets supporting the findings and conclusions of this study are available within the article.
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This study was funded by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) (Project Number117Z580).
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FEK and MK designed the study and conducted experiments, analyzed data, and wrote the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the manuscript.
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Erden-Karaoğlan, F., Karaoğlan, M. Applicability of the heterologous yeast promoters for recombinant protein production in Pichia pastoris. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 106, 7073–7083 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-022-12183-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-022-12183-8