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The ploidy determination of the biotechnologically important yeast Candida utilis

  • Microbial Genetics • Original Paper
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Abstract

Yeast Candida utilis is considered to be a potentially advantageous expression system for production of recombinant proteins utilizable for industrial and pharmaceutical purposes. As the scientific literature is not consistent in the ploidy of this yeast, in this work, we focused on resolving the problem via several methods such as the copy number determination of maltase gene by multiplex PCR, measuring α-glucosidase activity, the characterization of maltase gene copy number in deletion mutants using qPCR and flow cytometry. In context with the published data and results obtained in this study about the copy number of the maltase gene on C. utilis genome, we attempted to hypothesise and made conclusion about the ploidy of C. utilis. The results of this work, besides the biotechnological aspect, contribute to the elementary knowledge of C. utilis. The exact information about the ploidy or more specifically about the copy number of appropriate gene is essential for expression cassette dosage determination integrated into the chromosome of the host. In this study, we come to the conclusion that the maltase gene is present in C. utilis genome in four alleles, and in combination with flow cytometry, published information and the published genome sequences, the observations support the theory about tetraploidy of C. utilis.

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Contributors

The author Ján Krahulec declares that he participated in the article preparation. The author Veronika Lišková declares that she materially participated in the research and also participated in the article preparation. The author Hana Boňková declares that she materially participated in the research and also participated in the article preparation. The author Aneta Lichvariková declares that she materially participated in the research. Martin Šafranek declares that he materially participated in the research. The author Ján Turňa declares that he participated in the article preparation.

Funding

This work is a result of project implementation “Production of biologically active agents based on recombinant proteins” (ITMS 26240220048) supported by the Research and Development Operational Program, funded by the ERDF, and also supported by the grant of Slovak research and development agency APVV-17-0149.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Biology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava, Mlynská dolina, Ilkovičova 6, 842 15, Bratislava 4, Slovak Republic

    Ján Krahulec, Veronika Lišková, Hana Boňková, Aneta Lichvariková, Martin Šafranek & Ján Turňa

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  1. Ján Krahulec
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  2. Veronika Lišková
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  3. Hana Boňková
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  4. Aneta Lichvariková
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  5. Martin Šafranek
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  6. Ján Turňa
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Correspondence to Ján Krahulec.

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Communicated by: Agnieszka Szalewska-Palasz

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Krahulec, J., Lišková, V., Boňková, H. et al. The ploidy determination of the biotechnologically important yeast Candida utilis. J Appl Genetics 61, 275–286 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13353-020-00544-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13353-020-00544-w

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