Methylotrophy of Pichia pastoris: Current Advances, Applications, and Future Perspectives for Methanol-Based Biomanufacturing

Methanol, a nonfood C1 feedstock that could be produced either from fossil or potentially renewable raw materials has recently attracted much attention as a very promising feedstock alternative to sugar-based raw materials for biomanufacturing. Methylotrophic cell factories that could efficiently convert methanol to value-added products are highly desired for methanol-based biomanufacturing. Pichia pastoris shows significant industrial promise for methanol bioconversion due to its advantage in the methanol utilization rate compared to other native or synthetic methylotrophs. Here, we review the current understanding of methanol metabolism of P. pastoris, discuss the important factors that influence the methanol utilization ability of P. pastoris, and summarize the recent advances in the application of engineered P. pastoris to produce various chemicals from methanol. We also discuss future challenges and possible solutions to develop P. pastoris as an efficient cell factory used for methanol-based biomanufacturing.