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Construction of a lactose‐assimilating strain of baker's yeast
Author(s) -
Adam Ana Cristina,
Prieto José A.,
RubioTexeira Marta,
Polaina Julio
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
yeast
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.923
H-Index - 102
eISSN - 1097-0061
pISSN - 0749-503X
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0061(19990930)15:13<1299::aid-yea454>3.0.co;2-v
Subject(s) - biology , lactose , strain (injury) , yeast , microbiology and biotechnology , genetics , food science , anatomy
A recombinant strain of baker's yeast has been constructed which can assimilate lactose efficiently. This strain has been designed to allow its propagation in whey, the byproduct resulting from cheese‐making. The ability to metabolize lactose is conferred by the functional expression of two genes from Kluyveromyces lactis , LAC12 and LAC4 , which encode a lactose permease and a β‐galactosidase, respectively. To make the recombinant strain more acceptable for its use in bread‐making, the genetic transformation of the host baker's yeast was carried out with linear fragments of DNA of defined sequence, carrying as the only heterologous material the coding regions of the two K. lactis genes. Growth of the new strain on cheese whey affected neither the quality of bread nor the yeast gassing power. The significance of the newly developed strain is two‐fold: it affords a cheap alternative to the procedure generally used for the propagation of baker's yeast, and it offers a profitable use for cheese whey. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.