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Reprogramming yeast metabolism for customized starch-rich micro-grain through low-carbon microbial manufacturing

Author

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  • Zhihui Shi

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
    State Key Laboratory of Engineering Biology for Low-Carbon Manufacturing
    National Center of Technology Innovation for Synthetic Biology)

  • Zhaoyu Xu

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    National Center of Technology Innovation for Synthetic Biology)

  • Weihe Rong

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    State Key Laboratory of Engineering Biology for Low-Carbon Manufacturing
    National Center of Technology Innovation for Synthetic Biology
    TIB-UM Joint Laboratory of Synthetic Biology for Traditional Chinese Medicine)

  • Hongbing Sun

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    State Key Laboratory of Engineering Biology for Low-Carbon Manufacturing
    National Center of Technology Innovation for Synthetic Biology)

  • Hongyi Zhou

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
    State Key Laboratory of Engineering Biology for Low-Carbon Manufacturing
    National Center of Technology Innovation for Synthetic Biology)

  • Qianqian Yuan

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    State Key Laboratory of Engineering Biology for Low-Carbon Manufacturing
    National Center of Technology Innovation for Synthetic Biology)

  • Aixuan Xiao

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    State Key Laboratory of Engineering Biology for Low-Carbon Manufacturing
    National Center of Technology Innovation for Synthetic Biology
    TIB-UM Joint Laboratory of Synthetic Biology for Traditional Chinese Medicine)

  • Hongfei Ma

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    State Key Laboratory of Engineering Biology for Low-Carbon Manufacturing
    National Center of Technology Innovation for Synthetic Biology
    TIB-UM Joint Laboratory of Synthetic Biology for Traditional Chinese Medicine)

  • Tao Cai

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    State Key Laboratory of Engineering Biology for Low-Carbon Manufacturing
    National Center of Technology Innovation for Synthetic Biology)

  • Guokun Wang

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    State Key Laboratory of Engineering Biology for Low-Carbon Manufacturing
    National Center of Technology Innovation for Synthetic Biology
    TIB-UM Joint Laboratory of Synthetic Biology for Traditional Chinese Medicine)

  • Yanhe Ma

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    National Center of Technology Innovation for Synthetic Biology)

Abstract

Starch is a primary food ingredient and industrial feedstock. Low-carbon microbial manufacturing offers a carbon-neutral/negative arable land-independent strategy for starch production. Here, we reconfigure the oleaginous yeast as a starch-rich micro-grain producer by rewiring the starch biosynthesis and gluconeogenesis pathways and regulating cell morphology. With the CO2 electro-synthesized acetate as the substrate, the strain accumulates starch 47.18% of dry cell weight. The optimized system renders spatial-temporal starch productivity (243.7 g/m2/d) approximately 50-fold higher than crop cultivation and volumetric productivity (160.83 mg/L/h) over other microbial systems by an order of magnitude. We demonstrate tunable starch composition and starch-protein ratios via strain and process engineering. The engineered artificial strains adopt a cellular resources reallocation strategy to ensure high-level starch production in micro-grain and could facilitate a highly efficient straw/cellulose-to-starch conversion. This work elucidates starch biosynthesis machinery and establishes a superior-to-nature platform for customizable starch synthesis, advancing low-carbon nutritional manufacturing.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhihui Shi & Zhaoyu Xu & Weihe Rong & Hongbing Sun & Hongyi Zhou & Qianqian Yuan & Aixuan Xiao & Hongfei Ma & Tao Cai & Guokun Wang & Yanhe Ma, 2025. "Reprogramming yeast metabolism for customized starch-rich micro-grain through low-carbon microbial manufacturing," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-13, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-58067-z
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-58067-z
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Xiangbin Kong, 2014. "China must protect high-quality arable land," Nature, Nature, vol. 506(7486), pages 7-7, February.
    3. Alicia E. Graham & Rodrigo Ledesma-Amaro, 2023. "The microbial food revolution," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, December.
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