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Updated: May 27, 2026

Expression of Recombinant Proteins in the Methylotrophic Yeast Pichia pastoris
Published on: February 25, 2010
Recombinant protein expression in Pichia pastoris
J M Cregg1, J L Cereghino, J Shi
1Keck Graduate Institute of Applied Life Sciences, Claremont, CA 91711, USA. James_Cregg@kgi.edu
Abstract:
The methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris is now one of the standard tools used in molecular biology for the generation of recombinant protein. P. pastoris has demonstrated its most powerful success as a large-scale (fermentation) recombinant protein production tool. What began more than 20 years ago as a program to convert abundant methanol to a protein source for animal feed has been developed into what is today two important biological tools: a model eukaryote used in cell biology research and a recombinant protein production system. To date well over 200 heterologous proteins have been expressed in P. pastoris. Significant advances in the development of new strains and vectors, improved techniques, and the commercial availability of these tools coupled with a better understanding of the biology of Pichia species have led to this microbe's value and power in commercial and research labs alike.
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