Significance Methanol-based biomanufacturing is considered a promising way to achieve carbon neutrality. However, efficient methanol biotransformation toward chemical production is challenging. To address this challenge, we enhanced the precursor supply and coenzyme regeneration in Pichia pastoris, combined with reinforcing methanol assimilation, which resulted in significant improvements in fatty acid production. Furthermore, we offered an effective approach for rapidly constructing versatile cell factories that share common precursors. This study represents an important step forward in the rewiring of P. pastoris as industrial microbial cell factories for chemical production.

Methanol biotransformation toward high-level production of fatty acid derivatives by engineering the industrial yeast Pichia pastoris

As a green and renewable resource, marine polysaccharides have inherent nontoxicity, good biocompatibility, biodegradability, and environmental friendliness. Compared to land-based polysaccharides, marine polysaccharides acquire an absolute advantage in the process of diversity, extraction and purification. In recent years, some marine polysaccharides (such as alginate and chitosan) have been successfully converted into commercial products and widely used in clinical wound repair. Marine polysaccharide-based dressings can be prepared into multiple types of products (hydrogels, films, foam, or sponge) according to different application scenarios, providing excellent conditions for wound healing. These types of dressings can block bacteria, maintain the wound microenvironment, and promote wound healing. The development and utilization of marine polysaccharides are also expected to solve ecological problems such as green algae tide and marine biological invasions. This review presents the advances in marine polysaccharide-based wound dressings in the past three years. The direction of improvements in wound dressings based on marine polysaccharides in the future is also prospected.

Marine polysaccharides: green and recyclable resources as wound dressings

Biosynthesis of non-animal chondroitin sulfate from methanol using genetically engineered Pichia pastoris

Combinatorial metabolic engineering of Escherichia coli for de novo production of 2'-fucosyllactose.

Uronic acid-containing polysaccharides (UACPs) are a class of polysaccharides containing at least one type of uronic acid (UA) and have been widely used in medical and food industries because of their unique physicochemical properties and bioactivities. Marine organisms, a major source of natural products, provide abundant UACPs with novel structures. Exploring the biological activities of marine-derived UACPs and their molecular mechanisms, especially for those with different monosaccharide composition and molecular weights (MWs), is critical for elucidating the structure-function relationships and promoting the application of marine-derived UACPs in different fields. This review comprehensively covers the current knowledge of the potential sources and health benefits of marine-derived UACPs with different monosaccharide compositions and MWs. Moreover, the main methods for the production of marine-derived UACPs and their derivatives are also summarized in this review. This paper reviews recent research on marine-derived UACPs and provides future research directions for this field. Marine-derived UACPs exert various nutritional functions, displaying antioxidant, immunomodulatory, hypolipidemic, hypoglycemic, and regulating gut microbiota activities. Moreover, the monosaccharide composition, MW, and presence of unsaturated non-reducing ends are key factors affecting the nutritional function of marine-derived UACPs. In the future, more in vivo tests are needed to confirm the nutritional properties of marine-derived UACPs and their derivatives with different compositions, such as those containing different UAs and varying sulfate contents. Moreover, the molecular mechanisms underlying the properties of marine-derived UACPs and their structure-function relationships deserve further attention. • Marine-derived uronic acid-containing polysaccharides (UACPs) have unique structures. • UACPs exert bioactivities depending on MW, monosaccharide compositions and substituent groups. • Chemical and enzymatic methods are developed for the production of UACPs. 

Weijiao Zhang

Papers

Biosynthesis of non-animal chondroitin sulfate from methanol using genetically engineered Pichia pastoris

Secretory expression of biologically active chondroitinase ABC I for production of chondroitin sulfate oligosaccharides.

Optimizing the sulfation-modification system for scale preparation of chondroitin sulfate A.