Gene Expression Systems in Industrial Ascomycetes: Advancements and Applications

Filamentous fungi have a long tradition as industrial producers of enzymes and other proteins benefitting from their exceptional high capacity for the synthesis and secretion of these products. Although a plethora of applications is commercialized today, the multitude of potential applications of fungal products is far from being exhausted and intensive research efforts continuously unravel novel applications. Today, only a handful established expression platforms exist including Aspergilli spp. and T. reesei and most of the enzymes from other fungal or non-fungal sources are expressed in these production hosts. Economic exploitation is often hindered by low product titers caused by insufficient knowledge about the complex physiological processes resulting in protein production. We will give an overview about selected successful advancements in controlling gene expression and improving enzyme production and discuss surface active proteins, a new class of fungal products with a broad biotechnological application.