Genetic immobilization of cellulase on the cell surface of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

We tried genetically to immobilize cellulase protein on the cell surface of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae in its active form. A cDNA encoding FI-carboxymethylcellulase (CMCase) of the fungus Aspergillus aculeatus, with its secretion signal peptide, was fused with the gene encoding the C-terminal half (320 amino acid residues from the C terminus) of yeast α-agglutinin, a protein involved in mating and covalently anchored to the cell wall. The plasmid constructed containing this fusion gene was introduced into S. cerevisiae and expressed under the control of the glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase promoter from S. cerevisiae. The CMCase activity was detected in the cell pellet fraction. The CMCase protein was solubilized from the cell wall fraction by glucanase treatment but not by sodium dodecyl sulphate treatment, indicating the covalent binding of the fusion protein to the cell wall. The appearance of the fused protein on the cell surface was further confirmed by immunofluorescence microscopy and immunoelectron microscopy. These results proved that the CMCase was anchored on the cell wall in its active form.