Pichia pastoris based microbial cell factories
Abstract Pichia pastoris (Komagataella phaffii) is methylotrophic yeast that can grow using methanol as the sole carbon source. P. pastoris has been established as a protein production host and plays an important role in the production of industrial proteins. In addition, P. pastoris has high safety, easily achieving high density cultures, and, therefore, is suitable for industrial use. However, with respect to the generation of microbial cell factories for the production of various useful substances, it seems to be lagging when compared with most typical hosts. This chapter describes the available genetic engineering tools, examples of proteins, and useful chemicals produced using P. pastoris and outlines the strengths and weaknesses of P. pastoris for the construction of microbial cell factories. Finally, as a conclusion, the contents of this chapter were summarized, and future prospects of P. pastoris cell factories were discussed.