Gasser Lab: Yeast Molecular Biotechnology

Molecular Biotechnology determines and describes the underlying molecular principles of biotechnological production processes. Among these products, recombinant proteins (e.g. biotherapeutics and industrial enzymes) are of paramount importance. To accelerate the development of production strains it is crucial to understand the molecular physiology of the host, and the specific limitations that the product may exert on expression.

The yeast Pichia pastoris (syn. Komagataella spp) has emerged as an efficient host for recombinant protein production. We focus on the comprehensive understanding of protein folding and secretion, and on cell engineering for the improvement of these processes (BioTop Project 2019; BioTop Project 2015). Furthermore, we are part of the MSCA-ITN SECRETERS which designs new-generation microbial platforms for the production of disulphide-bonded and 'difficult-to-express' proteins (http://secreters-msca-itn.eu/).

In the “CD-Laboratory for growth-decoupled protein production in yeast”, the connection between cell growth and protein secretion is analyzed by looking at yeast cells cultivated at very low specific growth rates, using the yeast P. pastoris as a model system (link).

Systems biology analyses include genome, transcriptome, proteome, metabolome, and fluxome analyses, and metabolic modelling, these high throughput technologies are performed in cooperation with the Department of Chemistry, FH Campus Wien Bioinformatics group, and VBCF. Computational metabolic modelling is performed in joint projects with Metabolic Modelling group. Curated genome sequences of different P. pastoris strains are available at www.pichiagenome.org.