Evaluation of properties of several cheese-ripening fungi for potential biotechnological applications

Strains of Penicillium camemberti and Penicillium roqueforti were tested for properties that could be important for future biotechnological applications of these fungi. Penicillium camemberti CECT 2267 and P. roqueforti NRRL 849 showed the most promising performances in terms of growth, protoplast production, and protoplast regeneration abilities. Transformation of these strains with a plasmid containing gene encoding phleomycin resistance showed that they also have a high transformation frequency. In addition, both strains showed low extracellular proteolytic activity. Thus, these strains have all the characteristics to make them suitable for future genetic improvement, recombinant protein production, and other potential biotechnological applications.