Functional improvement of natural Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast strains by cell surface molecular engineering

Abstract Background Cellular boundaries of microorganisms can be modified by the expression in the cell wall of specific proteins endowed with relevant properties, improving their functional performance. So far, the surface display (SD) technique had been widely employed in the yeast Saccharomyces c...

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Main Authors: Sara Granuzzo, Monica Rossetto, Lucio Zennaro, Francesca Righetto, Paolo Antoniali, Raffaele Lopreiato
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2025-02-01
Series:Biology Direct
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s13062-025-00614-1
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author Sara Granuzzo
Monica Rossetto
Lucio Zennaro
Francesca Righetto
Paolo Antoniali
Raffaele Lopreiato
author_facet Sara Granuzzo
Monica Rossetto
Lucio Zennaro
Francesca Righetto
Paolo Antoniali
Raffaele Lopreiato
author_sort Sara Granuzzo
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Background Cellular boundaries of microorganisms can be modified by the expression in the cell wall of specific proteins endowed with relevant properties, improving their functional performance. So far, the surface display (SD) technique had been widely employed in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, but it was limited to few laboratory strains and never explored in sauvage strains, i.e., isolated from natural environment, which are featured by higher levels of genetic variability, leading to peculiar phenotypic traits of possible advantage in biotechnology. Results In this work, a series of plasmids performing SD in natural yeast strains have been generated and further characterized by multiple functional and biochemical assays, providing the first experimental evidence that natural strains of S.cerevisiae can be genetically modified to express on their cell wall a protein-of-interest, which retains its biological competence. Interestingly, data further demonstrated that engineered strains expressing (transiently or stably) metal-binding proteins or peptides on cell surface exhibit significantly enhanced metal adsorption properties. Conclusions The molecular tools presented here can be very useful for yeast research community, as the plasmids efficiently support the surface engineering in virtually all S.cerevisiae strains, independently from either genetic background, source, or applications (wine, beer, bread). Overall, data strongly suggest that, upon genetic modification, S. cerevisiae strains isolated from natural environments could serve as promising platforms for biotechnological applications, as heavy metals removal or enzymes immobilization. Importantly, the strains investigated here represent only a small fraction of the multitude of S. cerevisiae strains present in nature yet to be isolated.
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spelling doaj-art-d86c45541daf40b1af7c05908564c6be2025-08-20T02:12:58ZengBMCBiology Direct1745-61502025-02-0120111510.1186/s13062-025-00614-1Functional improvement of natural Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast strains by cell surface molecular engineeringSara Granuzzo0Monica Rossetto1Lucio Zennaro2Francesca Righetto3Paolo Antoniali4Raffaele Lopreiato5Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of PadovaDepartment of Molecular Medicine, University of PadovaDepartment of Molecular Medicine, University of PadovaDepartment of Biomedical Sciences, University of PadovaItaliana Biotecnologie SrlDepartment of Biomedical Sciences, University of PadovaAbstract Background Cellular boundaries of microorganisms can be modified by the expression in the cell wall of specific proteins endowed with relevant properties, improving their functional performance. So far, the surface display (SD) technique had been widely employed in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, but it was limited to few laboratory strains and never explored in sauvage strains, i.e., isolated from natural environment, which are featured by higher levels of genetic variability, leading to peculiar phenotypic traits of possible advantage in biotechnology. Results In this work, a series of plasmids performing SD in natural yeast strains have been generated and further characterized by multiple functional and biochemical assays, providing the first experimental evidence that natural strains of S.cerevisiae can be genetically modified to express on their cell wall a protein-of-interest, which retains its biological competence. Interestingly, data further demonstrated that engineered strains expressing (transiently or stably) metal-binding proteins or peptides on cell surface exhibit significantly enhanced metal adsorption properties. Conclusions The molecular tools presented here can be very useful for yeast research community, as the plasmids efficiently support the surface engineering in virtually all S.cerevisiae strains, independently from either genetic background, source, or applications (wine, beer, bread). Overall, data strongly suggest that, upon genetic modification, S. cerevisiae strains isolated from natural environments could serve as promising platforms for biotechnological applications, as heavy metals removal or enzymes immobilization. Importantly, the strains investigated here represent only a small fraction of the multitude of S. cerevisiae strains present in nature yet to be isolated.https://doi.org/10.1186/s13062-025-00614-1Saccharomyces cerevisiaeYeast surface displayProtein engineeringBioremediation
spellingShingle Sara Granuzzo
Monica Rossetto
Lucio Zennaro
Francesca Righetto
Paolo Antoniali
Raffaele Lopreiato
Functional improvement of natural Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast strains by cell surface molecular engineering
Biology Direct
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Yeast surface display
Protein engineering
Bioremediation
title Functional improvement of natural Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast strains by cell surface molecular engineering
title_full Functional improvement of natural Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast strains by cell surface molecular engineering
title_fullStr Functional improvement of natural Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast strains by cell surface molecular engineering
title_full_unstemmed Functional improvement of natural Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast strains by cell surface molecular engineering
title_short Functional improvement of natural Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast strains by cell surface molecular engineering
title_sort functional improvement of natural saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast strains by cell surface molecular engineering
topic Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Yeast surface display
Protein engineering
Bioremediation
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s13062-025-00614-1
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