EasyClone 2.0: expanded toolkit of integrative vectors for stable gene expression in industrial Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains

Saccharomyces cerevisiae is one of the key cell factories for production of chemicals and active pharmaceuticals. For large-scale fermentations, particularly in biorefinery applications, it is desirable to use stress-tolerant industrial strains. However, such strains are less amenable for metabolic engineering than the standard laboratory strains. To enable easy delivery and overexpression of genes in a wide range of industrial S. cerevisiae strains, we constructed a set of integrative vectors with long homology arms and dominant selection markers. The vectors integrate into previously validated chromosomal locations via double cross-over and result in homogenous stable expression of the integrated genes, as shown for several unrelated industrial strains. Cre-mediated marker rescue is possible for removing markers positioned on different chromosomes. To demonstrate the applicability of the presented vector set for metabolic engineering of industrial yeast, we constructed xylose-utilizing strains overexpressing xylose isomerase, xylose transporter and five genes of the pentose phosphate pathway.