Production of squalene by lactose-fermenting yeast <i>Kluyveromyces lactis</i> with reduced squalene epoxidase activity

Abstract

Squalene is a natural substance with wide applications in food, cosmetic and pharmaceutic industries. The suitability of lactose-fermenting yeast Kluyveromyces lactis for the production of squalene was tested in the study. Partial inhibition of squalene epoxidase by specific inhibitor terbinafine resulted in high accumulation of squalene in K. lactis grown on glucose or lactose comparable to values found in terbinafine-treated Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Our results prove that K. lactis is a promising micro-organism for genetic manipulations aimed at the production of squalene on industrial waste like whey as the growth substrate.