Evolutionary engineering of : Crafting a synthetic methylotroph via self-reprogramming.

Methanol, as a non-edible feedstock, offers a promising sustainable alternative to sugar-based substrates in biochemical production. Despite progress in engineering methanol assimilation in nonmethylotrophs, the full transformation into methanol-dependent synthetic methylotrophs remains a formidable challenge. Here, moving beyond the conventional rational design principle, we engineered a synthetic methylotrophic through genome rearrangement and adaptive laboratory evolution.

Engineering industrial yeast for improved tolerance and robustness.

As an important cell factory, industrial yeast has been widely used for the production of compounds ranging from bulk chemicals to complex natural products. However, various adverse conditions including toxic products, extreme pH, and hyperosmosis etc., severely restrict microbial growth and metabolic performance, limiting the fermentation efficiency and diminishing its competitiveness.

Artificial multi-enzyme cascades and whole-cell transformation for bioconversion of C1 compounds: Advances, challenge and perspectives.

Artificial multi-enzyme cascades bear great potential for bioconversion of C1 compounds to value-added chemicals. Over the past decade, massive efforts have been devoted to constructing multi-enzyme cascades to produce glycolic acid, rare functional sugars and even starch from C1 compounds. However, in contrast to traditional fermentation utilizing C1 compounds with the expectation of competitive economic performance in future industrialization, multi-enzyme cascades systems in the proof-of-concept phase are facing the challenges of upscaling.

[Advances in biotransformation of methanol into chemicals].

Methanol has become an attractive substrate for the biomanufacturing industry due to its abundant supply and low cost. The biotransformation of methanol to value-added chemicals using microbial cell factories has the advantages of green process, mild conditions and diversified products. These advantages may expand the product chain based on methanol and alleviate the current problem of biomanufacturing, which is competing with people for food.

Bioconversion of C1 feedstocks for chemical production using Pichia pastoris.

Bioconversion of C1 feedstocks for chemical production offers a promising solution to global challenges such as the energy and food crises and climate change. The methylotroph Pichia pastoris is an attractive host system for the production of both recombinant proteins and chemicals from methanol. Recent studies have also demonstrated its potential for utilizing CO through metabolic engineering or coupling with electrocatalysis.