Construction of a starch-utilizing yeast by cell surface engineering

The cell surface of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae was engineered by anchoring active glucoamylase protein on the cell wall. The yeast cells were given the capacity to use starch directly as the only carbon source. By employing yeast alpha-agglutinin as an anchor region and the secretion signal peptide from Rizhopus oryzae glucoamylase, glucoamylase was transported and covalently bound to the cell surface.