SMD1163

Introduction 

Pichia pastoris is a highly successful system for production of a wide variety of 

recombinant proteins. Several factors have contributed to its rapid acceptance, the most 

important of which include: （1） a promoter derived from the alcohol oxidase I （AOX1） gene of P. 

pastoris that is uniquely suited for the controlled expression of foreign genes; （2） the similarity 

of techniques needed for the molecular genetic manipulation of P. pastoris to those of 

Saccharomyces cerevisiae; （3） the strong preference of P. pastoris for respiratory growth, a key 

physiological trait that greatly facilitates its culturing at high-cell densities relative to 

fermentative yeasts; and （4） the decision in 1993 by Phillips Petroleum Company in Bartlesville, 

Okla. （and continued by Research Corporation Technologies [RCT]）, to release the P. pastoris

expression system to academic research laboratories, the consequence of which has been an 

explosion in the knowledge base on the system as described in numerous recent publications.