Recently, the international top journal Nature Synthesis published the research achievement of the team led by Professor Qin Huimin from the College of Biotechnology of Tianjin University of Science and Technology. The paper is titled Constructing artificial methylotrophic S. cerevisiae for chondroitin sulfate production using a multidimensional combinatorial strategy, with Professor Qin Huimin as the corresponding author and doctoral student Li Lei as the first author. This marks the first time that Tianjin University of Science and Technology has published a research paper in this journal as the first completing unit, signifying that the university's research level in the fields of synthetic biology and green biomanufacturing has reached a new stage.

Professor Qin Huimin has long been engaged in the research of enzyme engineering and green biomanufacturing, focusing on the modification of functional glycoenzymes, the construction of engineered strains and the regulation of metabolic networks. Taking industrial microorganisms such as Bacillus subtilis and Saccharomyces cerevisiae as chassis, he combines structural design, directed evolution and metabolic engineering strategies to improve enzyme catalytic efficiency and strain synthesis capacity, providing support for the green and low-carbon manufacturing of functional sugars, prebiotics and high-value-added bio-based products. This study involves the interdisciplinary integration of synthetic biology, metabolic engineering and green chemistry. Through a multidimensional combinatorial strategy to reconstruct the carbon metabolic pathway of Saccharomyces cerevisiae supplemented with adaptive laboratory evolution, an artificial methylotrophic yeast that can utilize methanol has been successfully constructed. The engineered strain after modification can not only achieve good growth in a medium containing 2% methanol, but also efficiently synthesize chondroitin sulfate A using methanol as the carbon source, with significantly improved sulfation modification degree and energy supply. This study reveals a new path for the high-value biological transformation of methanol C1 resources, which is of great significance for promoting green biomanufacturing and low-carbon circular economy.

The achievement of this breakthrough result is a vivid embodiment of the College's long-term dedication to the field of biomanufacturing and continuous promotion of organized scientific research. In recent years, the College of Biotechnology of Tianjin University of Science and Technology has closely followed the university's school-running orientation of "a multidisciplinary, distinctive and high-level research-oriented university", focused on the cutting-edge field of biomanufacturing, solidly promoted the university's "Top Tust · Scientific Research Climbing" action, and continuously deepened exchanges and cooperation with high-level scientific research teams. It has obtained a number of scientific research achievements, providing strong support for the development of fields such as biology, food and light industry. The College adheres to promoting the tackling of "stuck neck" problems in key fields through organized scientific research, actively aligns with the 15th Five-Year S&T layout, promotes the transformation of basic research achievements into industrial applications, explores innovative directions in cross-team collaboration, strives to produce high-level scientific research achievements with academic influence, injects impetus into the development of key disciplines and scientific and technological progress, and lays a solid foundation for the comprehensive construction of a high-level research-oriented university.

Original Article Link‌:

https://doi.org/10.1038/s44160-026-01079-4