Phytase-producing capacity of yeasts isolated from traditional African fermented food products and PHYPk gene expression of Pichia kudriavzevii strains

• Ninety-three yeast isolates from traditional African fermented products, were screened for phytase production.
• A phytase coding gene of P. kudriavzevii (PHYPk) was identified and its expression studied during growth by RT-qPCR.
• The expression level of PHYPk was significantly higher in phytate-medium, compared to phosphate-medium.
• In phytate-medium PHYPk expression was seen in the lag phase.
• A correlation was found between the PHYCk expression and phytase extracellular activity.

Phytate is known as a strong chelate of minerals causing their reduced uptake by the human intestine. Ninety-three yeast isolates from traditional African fermented food products, belonging to nine species (Pichia kudriavzevii, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Clavispora lusitaniae, Kluyveromyces marxianus, Millerozyma farinosa, Candida glabrata, Wickerhamomyces anomalus, Hanseniaspora guilliermondii and Debaryomyces nepalensis) were screened for phytase production on solid and liquid media. 95% were able to grow in the presence of phytate as sole phosphate source, P. kudriavzevii being the best growing species. A phytase coding gene of P. kudriavzevii (PHYPk) was identified and its expression was studied during growth by RT-qPCR. The expression level of PHYPk was significantly higher in phytate-medium, compared to phosphate-medium. In phytate-medium expression was seen in the lag phase. Significant differences in gene expression were detected among the strains as well as between the media. A correlation was found between the PHYPk expression and phytase extracellular activity.