Protein expression strains

A fungal host cell comprising a modified NOT4 gene, wherein the Not4 protein encoded by the modified NOT4 gene comprises a mutation at a position corresponding to a position selected from the group consisting of:

• 429, 430, 434, and 437 of SEQ ID NO:
• 2, which results in:
• a. a reduced level of expression of Not4 protein,
• b. a reduced activity level of Not4 protein, or
• c. a reduced level of expression of NOT4 gene
• wherein the reduced level is relative to that of a wild-type Not4 protein or NOT4 gene of a reference fungal host cell,
• wherein each of said fungal host cell and said reference fungal host cell is Saccharomyces cerevisiae,
• wherein each of said fungal host cell and said reference fungal host cell comprises a nucleotide sequence encoding a heterologous protein which is an albumin or a fusion thereof,
• wherein the heterologous protein has a higher yield in the fungal host cell than in the reference fungal host cell.