Publications by authors named "Tianqiong Shi"

Article Synopsis
  • Genome engineering is a vital tool across scientific fields that improves human welfare and addresses challenges, with CRISPR-Cas being the most prominent method used for modifying genomes.
  • The limitations of the CRISPR-Cas system, notably its reliance on double-strand breaks and variable editing efficiency, have spurred interest in CRISPR-associated transposons (CASTs), which can integrate DNA with high precision and without depending on the host's DNA repair processes.
  • This review discusses the advancements and challenges of CASTs, highlighting their potential to revolutionize genome editing by expanding available techniques beyond conventional methods.
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The development of high-performance strains and the continuous breakthrough of strain screening technology also pose challenges to downstream fermentation optimization and scale-up. Therefore, neural network models are utilized to optimize the fermentation process to meet the goals of boosting yield or lowering cost, with the use of artificial intelligence technology in conjunction with the peculiarities of the fermentation process. High-performance strains' yield rise and fermentation process amplification will be sped up with the aid of neural network models.

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  • Adaptive laboratory evolution is a method that researchers use to improve the traits of microorganisms, and it's now being applied to non-model strains like Yarrowia lipolytica, which has industrial applications.
  • This approach addresses challenges posed by specific substances and environmental factors that can negatively impact Yarrowia lipolytica's activity.
  • The manuscript summarizes experiments focusing on enhancing lignocellulose utilization and production in Yarrowia lipolytica, and discusses how adaptive laboratory evolution can be paired with other techniques to better understand how these strains evolve.
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Article Synopsis
  • * Core to biomanufacturing are cell factories, which face challenges like low productivity and metabolic imbalances due to conflicts between natural product production and cell growth.
  • * Enzyme co-localization strategies offer a promising approach to optimize these cell factories, and the article reviews applications across various compartmentalization techniques while suggesting future research directions.
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Pneumocandin B (PB) is a lipopeptide produced by the fungus Glarea lozoyensis. The existing challenges with the low-yield and the extended-fermentation cycle emphasize necessity for strain improvement. In this study, we optimized conditions to obtain high-quality protoplasts and screened effective selection markers, leading to the construction of three CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing systems.

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Flavonoids, a significant group of natural polyphenolic compounds, possess a broad spectrum of pharmacological effects. Recent advances in the systematic metabolic engineering of yeast cell factories (YCFs) provide new opportunities for enhanced flavonoid production. Herein, we outline the latest research progress on typical flavonoid products in YCFs.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Monoterpenoids are key compounds found in various industries like energy, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals, and their microbial synthesis, particularly through yeasts, is gaining interest due to benefits like fast growth and advanced genetic techniques.
  • - Recent improvements in metabolic and fermentation engineering have boosted the production of monoterpenoids by optimizing biosynthetic pathways and addressing challenges like cytotoxicity and substrate use.
  • - The review not only covers the latest strategies for enhancing monoterpenoid production and highlights specific examples, but also discusses future directions for creating efficient "cell factories" for these valuable compounds.
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5-Aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) is a non-proteinogenic amino acid essential for synthesizing tetrapyrrole compounds, including heme, chlorophyll, cytochrome, and vitamin B12. As a plant growth regulator, 5-ALA is extensively used in agriculture to enhance crop yield and quality. The complexity and low yield of chemical synthesis methods have led to significant interest in the microbial synthesis of 5-ALA.

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is an efficient cell factory for organic acids production, particularly l-malic acid, through genetic manipulation. However, the traditional method of collecting spores for inoculation is labor-intensive and resource-consuming. In our study, we used the CRISPR-Cas9 system to replace the promoter of , a key gene in conidiation, with a xylose-inducible promoter in l-malic acid-producing strain RG0095, generating strain .

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Due to the extreme living conditions, extremophiles have unique characteristics in morphology, structure, physiology, biochemistry, molecular evolution mechanism and so on. Extremophiles have superior growth and synthesis capabilities under harsh conditions compared to conventional microorganisms, allowing for unsterilized fermentation processes and thus better performance in low-cost production. In recent years, due to the development and optimization of molecular biology, synthetic biology and fermentation technology, the identification and screening technology of extremophiles has been greatly improved.

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Gibberellic acid (GA3) is a vital plant growth hormone widely used in agriculture. Currently, GA3 production relies on liquid fermentation by the filamentous fungus . However, the lack of an effective selection marker recycling system hampers the application of metabolic engineering technology in , as multiple-gene editing and positive-strain screening still rely on a limited number of antibiotics.

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Article Synopsis
  • Gibberellic acid (GA3) is a vital plant growth regulator produced by the fungus Fusarium fujikuroi, but a limited understanding of its metabolic pathways has challenged efforts to optimize its production.
  • This study introduced a new technology using small-molecule compounds that significantly increased GA3 production, particularly with the addition of terbinafine, which raised levels to 1.08 g/L.
  • By analyzing lipid and squalene biosynthesis pathways, researchers implemented metabolic engineering and lipid substrate supplementation, ultimately achieving a GA3 yield of 3.24 g/L in a 5 L bioreactor using waste cooking oil as the carbon source.
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Enzymes, as biocatalysts, play a cumulatively important role in environmental purification and industrial production of chemicals and pharmaceuticals. However, natural enzymes are limited by their physiological properties in practice, which need to be modified driven by requirements. Screening and isolating certain enzyme variants or ideal industrial strains with high yielding of target product enzymes is one of the main directions of enzyme engineering research.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Metabolic engineering of yeast is essential for enhancing cell factory productivity, focusing on the stable integration of external DNA into the yeast genome.
  • - The research developed an advanced toolkit called YALIcloneHR, which utilizes modular cloning, homologous arms, and CRISPR technology to facilitate gene-specific knockout and integration in Yarrowia lipolytica.
  • - The approach was tested by knocking out the PEX10 gene, leading to a recombinant strain capable of producing 4.8% arachidonic acid, indicating potential for future chemical production from acetyl-CoA.
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Liquid fermentation is the primary method for GA production using. However, production capacity is limited due to unknown metabolic pathways. To address this, we constructed a genome-scale metabolic model (CY1235) with 1753 reactions, 1979 metabolites, and 1235 genes to understand the GA regulation mechanisms.

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Bacillus sp. is one of the most distinctive gram-positive bacteria, able to grow efficiently using cheap carbon sources and secrete a variety of useful substances, which are widely used in food, pharmaceutical, agricultural and environmental industries. At the same time, Bacillus sp.

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Special environmental microorganisms are considered to be of great industrial application value because of their special genotypes, physiological functions and metabolites. The research and development of special environmental microorganisms will certainly bring about some innovations in biotechnology processes and change the face of bioengineering. The Special Environmental Microbial Database (DSEMR) is a comprehensive database that provides information on special environmental microbial resources and correlates them with synthetic biological parts.

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Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) belonged to the ω-3 series of polyunsaturated fatty acids and had physiological functions lipid as regulating blood lipid and preventing cardiovascular diseases. Schizochytrium sp. was considered to be a potential industrial fermentation strain of EPA because of its fast growth, high oil content, and simple fatty acid composition.

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Acetoin was widely used in food, medicine, and other industries, because of its unique fragrance. Bacillus amyloliquefaciens was recognized as a safe strain and a promising acetoin producer in fermentation. However, due to the complexity of its metabolic network, it had not been fully utilized.

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Patchoulol is an important sesquiterpene alcohol with a strong and lasting odor, which has led to prominent applications in perfumes and cosmetics. In this study, systematic metabolic engineering strategies were adopted to create an efficient yeast cell factory for patchoulol overproduction. First, a baseline strain was constructed by selecting a highly active patchoulol synthase.

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Article Synopsis
  • * Recent advances in metabolic engineering have enabled the creation of microbial cell factories, particularly yeasts, for the industrial synthesis of β-carotene due to their safety and efficiency.
  • * The review details innovative strategies for enhancing β-carotene biosynthesis, such as protein and promoter engineering, and suggests future approaches for optimizing production.
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Spores and pollens refer to the reproductive cells of seed plants and asexually reproducing sporophytes, exhibiting a natural core-shell structure and exquisite surface morphology. They possess extraordinary dimensional homogeneity, porosity, amphiphilicity and adhesion. Their sporopollenin exine layer endows them with chemically stable, UV resistant, and biocompatible properties, which can also be facilely functionalized due to sufficient groups on the surface.

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Background: α-Humulene is an important biologically active sesquiterpene, whose heterologous production in microorganisms is a promising alternative biotechnological process to plant extraction and chemical synthesis. In addition, the reduction of production expenses is also an extremely critical factor in the sustainable and industrial production of α-humulene. In order to meet the requirements of industrialization, finding renewable substitute feedstocks such as low cost or waste substrates for terpenoids production remains an area of active research.

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