Direct secretory expression of active microbial transglutaminase in Pichia pastoris

Abstract:

Direct secretory expression of active microbial transglutaminase (MTG) using heterologous hosts is a promising strategy, although its production level still needs to be improved for industrial production. Pichia pastoris is one of the most efficient expression systems developed in recent years. In this study, secretory expression of active MTG was successfully achieved by co-expressing the pro sequence and mature MTG genes in P. pastoris. Furthermore, we optimized the copy number of pro/MTG expression cassettes and the fermentation conditions. MTG production level reached 7.3 U/mL in 1-liter fermentor through high density fermentation, providing the feasiblity for industrial scale preparation of MTG.