Kluyveromyces lactis as an expression host for enzymes that degrade lignocellulosic biomass

Lignocellulose is the most abundant regenerative raw material in the world and is therefore an important substrate for the conversion of biomass into biofuels and other high-value products. The efficient microbial degradation of plant biomass in nature requires a set of different enzymes that act in concert to degrade different parts of the lignocellulose molecule. For example, ccllulases arc responsible for cellulose hydrolysis, and peroxidases and laccases are the main enzymes for lignin degradation. One strategy for the generation of tailor-made enzyme cocktails is the production of specific combinations of different enzymes for different biomass sources. Because the best known biomass degraders arc fungi, a eukaryotic expression system is preferable for the expression of biomass-degrading enzymes. We therefore chose the yeast kluyveromyces lactis for the over expression of enzymes from fungi such as Trichoderma reesei and Pycnoporus cinnaharinus.