Candida utilis and Cyberlindnera (Pichia) jadinii: yeast relatives with expanding applications

The yeast Candida utilis is used as a food additive and as a host for heterologous gene expression to produce various metabolites and proteins. Reliable protocols for intracellular production of recombinant proteins are available for C . utilis and have now been expanded to secrete proteins into the growth medium or to achieve surface display by linkage to a cell wall protein. A recombinant C . utilis strain was recently shown to induce oral tolerance in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis suggesting future applications in autoimmune therapy. Whole genome sequencing of C . utilis and its presumed parent Cyberlindnera ( Pichia ) jadinii demonstrated different ploidy but high sequence identity, consistent with identical recombinant technologies for both yeasts. C . jadinii was recently described as an antagonist to the important human fungal pathogen Candida albicans suggesting its use as a probiotic agent. The review summarizes the status of recombinant protein production in C . utilis , as well as current and future biotechnological and medical applications of C . utilis and C . jadinii .