Using Pichia pastoris as a production host for animal myoglobin and hemoglobin

In recent years, the increasing awareness of humans about the negative influence of the meat industry on our ecosystem and on the climate, placed the recombinant animal proteins in the focus of the food biotechnology research. Thereby, animal hemoproteins are crucially important for a meaty taste and flavour. They increase the nutritional value concerning iron content and improve the biomimicry of alternative meat products. Within this project, Pichia pastoris strains expressing bovine (Bos taurus) and chicken (Gallus gallus) myoglobin and hemoglobin were generated and studied. Both animal hemoproteins expressed in yeast were further purified and characterized.