Recombinant Production of an Inulinase in a Saccharomyces cerevisiae gal80 Strain

The inulinase gene (INU1) from Kluyveromyces marxianus NCYC2887 was overexpressed by using the GAL10 promotor in a ${\Delta}ga180$ strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The inulinase gene lacking the original signal sequence was fused in-frame to a mating factor ${\alpha}$ signal sequence for secretory expression. Use of the ${\Delta}ga180$ strain allowed for the galactose-free induction of inulinase expression using a glucose-only medium. Shake-flask cultivation in YPD medium produced 34.6 U/ml of the recombinant inulinase, which was approximately 13-fold higher than that produced by K. marxianus NCYC2887. It was found that the use of the ${\Delta}ga180$ strain improved the expression of inulinase in the recombinant S. cerevisiae in both aerobic and anaerobic conditions by about 2.9- and 1.7-fold, respectively. A 5-l fed-batch fermentation using YPD medium was performed under aerobic condition with glucose feeding, which resulted in the inulinase production of 31.7 U/ml at the $OD_{600}$ of 67. Ethanol fermentation of dried powder of Jerusalem artichoke, an inulin-rich biomass, was also performed using the recombinant S. cerevisiae expressing INU1 and K. marxianus NCYC2887. Fermentation in a 5-l scale fermentor was carried out at an aeration rate of 0.2 vvm, an agitation rate of 300 rpm, and with the pH controlled at 5.0. The temperature was maintained at $30^{\circ}C$ and $37^{\circ}C$, respectively, for the recombinant S. cerevisiae and K. marxianus. The maximum productivities of ethanol were 59.0 and 53.5 g/l, respectively.