Study of the Enzymatic Capacity of Kluyveromyces marxianus for the Synthesis of Esters.

Abstract

Recently, biotechnological opportunities have been found in non-Saccharomyces yeasts because they possess metabolic characteristics that lead to the production of compounds of interest. It has been observed that Kluyveromyces marxianus has a great potential in the production of esters, which are aromatic compounds of industrial importance. The genetic bases that govern the synthesis of esters include a large group of enzymes, among which the most important are alcohol acetyl transferases (AATases) and esterases (AEATases), and it is known that some are present in K. marxianus, because it has genetic characteristics like S. cerevisiae. It also has a physiology suitable for biotechnological use since it is the eukaryotic microorganism with the fastest growth rate and has a wide range of thermotolerance with respect to other yeasts. In this work, the enzymatic background of K. marxianus involved in the synthesis of esters is analyzed, based on the sequences reported in the NCBI database.