Education
B.Eng., Xi’an Jiaotong University (2007)
Ph.D., Nanyang Technological University (2012)
Professional Experience
Research Scientist, National University of Singapore (2012-2016)
Senior Research Fellow, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (2016-2017)
Research Fellow, National University of Singapore (2017-2018)
Professor, Xiamen University (2018)
Research Area
Key words: Synthetic Biology, Metabolic Engineering, Genome Editing, Biocatalysis and Biotransformation, Asymmetric Synthesis, Natural Product and Drug Synthesis.
Our group aims to develop green, sustainable, and cost-effective biosynthesis of high-value pharmaceutical intermediates, fragrance and flavors, fine chemicals and natural products from renewable feedstocks. By employing synthetic biology and metabolic engineering principles, our group focuses on engineering and devising efficient microbial cell factory for chemical productions. More specifically, it aims to a) develop pathway reconstruction technology and cascade biotransformation; b) dynamically regulate the pathway activity via synthetic genetic circuits; c) develop high-throughput screening approaches for directed evolution of substrate specificity and enantioselectivity of key enzymes involved in the downstream cascade biotransformation; and d) elucidate the biosynthetic pathway for natural products.
Selected Publications (# First author, * Corresponding author)
2026
Jifeng Yuan*, et al. A non-classical biosynthetic route enables tocopherol synthesis in bacteria. Nature Metabolism, 2026, 8, 1805–1817
Jifeng Yuan*, et al. Transposon engineering of Saccharomyces cerevisiae for allantoin-inducible cordycepin production. Engineering in Life Sciences, 2026, 26: e009
Jifeng Yuan, et al. Computational and deep-learning-guided design of raspberry ketone synthase towards concurrent gains in activity and thermostability. Bioresource Technology, 2026, 457,134952
Jifeng Yuan*, et al. Engineered optogenetic circuits in yeast with self-sustained outputs. Advanced Science, 2026, 13:e75865
Jifeng Yuan*, et al. Enhanced growth of 1-butanol producing Escherichia coli via a metabolic buffer. BioDesign Research, 2026, 8, 2:00086
Jifeng Yuan*, et al. Biosensor-guided indexing of genome evolution for boosting microbial chemical synthesis. Trends in Biotechnology, 2026, 44, 6:1641-1659
Jifeng Yuan*, et al. Engineering new-to-nature biological pathways for β,γ-diol biosynthesis. Advanced Science, 2026, 13:e19742
Dianjiang Yu#, Haofeng Chen#, Yang Zhang#, et al., Xueping Ling, Ning He, Jifeng Yuan*. Biosensor-guided indexing of genome evolution for boosting microbial chemical synthesis. Trends in Biotechnology (Research article), 2026, doi:10.1016/j.tibtech.2025.12.019
Haofeng Chen#, Haidong Yu#, Dongjiang Lin#, Guojun Yang#, Yuchen Xie, Yang Zhang, Jifeng Yuan*. Engineering new-to-nature biological pathways for β,γ-diol biosynthesis. Advanced Science, 2026, 0:e19742
2025
Peiling Wu#, Haofeng Chen#, Guojun Yang#, Haoyu Qin, Qian Zhang, Yuxin Chen, Dongjiang Lin, Yang Zhang, Shuyong Lin, Shizhen Wang*, Jifeng Yuan*. Engineering Escherichia coli for the S-selective production of 2-hydroxyisovalerate. BioDesign Research, 2025, 7, 100059
Zhizhen Li#, Wenhao Li#, Xinyu Gao#, Wenmin Yao, Zhenqian Zhu, Xueyi Luo, Yang Zhang*, Jifeng Yuan*. Systematic engineering to enhance valencene production in Rhodobacter sphaeroides. Bioresources and Bioprocessing, 2025, 12, 100
Lu Zhang#, Na Chen#, Haofeng Chen, Chaoqun Tang, Junyi Wang, Yan Wang, Yang Zhang, Hao Guo, Jifeng Yuan*. Recent advances of engineered probiotics for therapeutic applications. BioDesign Research, 2025, 7,100039
Yongbin Chen, Yanyang Chen, Xiaoyu Wei, Jifeng Yuan, Mingfeng Cao and Ning He*. A Structurally Tunable Cell-Free System: to Expand the Synthetic Biology Toolkit for Studies on Extracellular Polysaccharide. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2025, 73, 17801−17813
Peiling Wu, Haofeng Chen, Yueyang Chen, Yang Zhang, Jifeng Yuan*. Microbial synthesis of branched-chain β,γ-diols from amino acid metabolism. Nature Communications, 2025, 16, 4568
Cong Fan#, Jian Fan#, Haofeng Chen#, Shujin Lin#, Danli Zhang#, Jingya Song#, Junyi Wang, Yan Wang, Xiao Han, Jifeng Yuan*. Switching the yeast metabolism via modulation of sugar phosphorylation. Metabolic Engineering, 2025, 89, 76-85
Junyi Wang, Jaixue Ma, Xueyi Luo, Shuo Wang, Xinning Cai, Jifeng Yuan*. Design and characterization of allantoin-inducible expression systems in budding yeast. Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts, 2025, 18, 26
Xin Hua, Chengxi Kou, Fengge Wang, Jianfeng Zhang*, Jifeng Yuan*, Zheyong Xue*. Steroidal compounds in Paris polyphylla: structure, biological activities, and biosynthesis. Current Opinion in Plant Biology, 2025, 84, 102695
Shujin Lin, et al., Jifeng Yuan*, Jingying Li*, Huanghao Yang*, Xiaofeng Gu*, Xiao Han*. Beyond Species and Spatial Boundaries: Enabling Long-Distance Gene Silencing in Plants via Guanidinium-siRNA Nanoparticles. Plant Biotechnology Journal, 2025, 23, 1165-1177
Shan Jiang#, Haofeng Chen#, Shiyao Chen#, Na Chen, Haofeng Yang, Yiyang Duan, Shiqi Ao, Ruoxi Wang, Xin Wang, Yalin Zhang*, Jifeng Yuan*. Genetically encoded biosensors for constrained biological functions in probiotic Escherichia coli Nissle. ACS Synthetic Biology, 2025, 14, 296-303
Linyue Tian, Tianqi Qi, Fenghui Zhang, Vinh G Tran, Jifeng Yuan, Yuanpeng Wang, Ning He*, Mingfeng Cao*. Synthetic biology approaches to improve tolerance of inhibitors in lignocellulosic hydrolysates. Biotechnology Advances, 2025, 78, 108477
Haoyi Yang, Xiaoyu Lin, Xianen Zhong, Mingfeng Cao, Jifeng Yuan, Zhipeng Li, Xueping Ling*, Ning He*. Current status and advances in the green synthesis of muconic acid. Critical Reviews in Biotechnology, 2025, 45(5), 1040-1057
2024
Anqi Chen*, Jifeng Yuan*. Fermentation utilizing engineered microbes: revolutionizing the production of commercial products from plant-derived bioactive compounds. Elsevier, Book Chapter, 2024, 153-201
Bixia Fu#, Cheng Cheng#, Jianqian Fan, Jifeng Yuan*. Designing and engineering synthetic microbiota to utilize plant lignin-based biomass for the synthesis of bioactive compounds. Elsevier, Book Chapter, 2024, 89-124
Haofeng Chen, Shan Jiang, Kaixuan Xu, Ziyu Ding, Jiangkai Wang, Mingfeng Cao*, Jifeng Yuan*. Design of thermoresponsive genetic controls with minimal heat-shock response. ACS Synthetic Biology, 2024, 13(9), 3032-3040
Yueyang Chen#, Jian Fan#, Qiwen Mo#, Yongming Choe#, Haofeng Chen, Yang Zhang, Zheyong Xue*, Jifeng Yuan*. Recent advances in developing aldehyde-accumulating microbes and future perspective of biosynthetic applications. Synthetic Biology and Engineering, 2024, 2(4), 10016
Chaoqun Tang, Lu Zhang, Junyi Wang, Chongjia Zou, Yalin Zhang*, Jifeng Yuan*. Engineering Saccharomyces boulardii for probiotic supplementation of L-ergothioneine. Biotechnology Journal, 2024,19:e202400527
Peiling Wu, Ding Luo, Yuezhou Wang, Xiaoxu Shang, Binju Wang, Xianming Deng, Jifeng Yuan*. Biosynthesis of diverse Ephedra-type alkaloids via a newly identified enzymatic cascade. BioDesign Research, 2024, 6:0048
Yang Zhang*, Xinyu Wang, Jifeng Yuan*, Liejin Guo*. Multidimensional engineering of Rhodobacter sphaeroides for enhanced photo-fermentative hydrogen production. Chemical Engineering Journal, 2024, 488, 150852
Junyi Wang#, Jingya Song#, Cong Fan#, Jiahao Duan, Kaiyuan He, Jifeng Yuan*. Copper-induced in vivo gene amplification in budding yeast. BioDesign Research, 2024, 6:0030
Cong Fan, Nike He, Jifeng Yuan*. Cascaded amplifying circuit enables sensitive detection of fungal pathogens. Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 2024, 250,116058
Yang Zhang#, Cheng Cheng#, Bixia Fu#, Teng Long, Ning He, Jianqiang Fan*, Zheyong Xue*, Anqi Chen*, Jifeng Yuan*. Microbial upcycling of depolymerized lignin into value-added chemicals. BioDesign Research, 2024, 6:0027
Jian Fan#, Yang Zhang#, Wenhao Li, Zhizhen Li, Danli Zhang, Qiwen Mo, Mingfeng Cao, Jifeng Yuan*. Multidimensional optimization of Saccharomyces cerevisiae for carotenoid overproduction. BioDesign Research, 2024, 6:0026
Qiwen Mo, Jifeng Yuan*. Minimal Aromatic Aldehyde Reduction (MARE) yeast platform for engineering vanillin production. Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts, 2024, 17, 4
2023
Cong Fan, Jifeng Yuan*. Reshaping the yeast galactose regulon via GPCR signaling cascade. Cell Reports Methods, 2023, 3, 100647
Lin Hu, Huihui Qiu, Liuheng Huang, Fenghui Zhang, Vinh G Tran, Jifeng Yuan, Ning He*, Mingfeng Cao*. Emerging non-model eukaryotes for biofuel production. Current Opinion in Biotechnology, 2023, 84, 103015
Yang Zhang, Wenchang Meng, Yuting He, Yuhui Chen, Mingyu Shao, Jifeng Yuan*. Multidimensional optimization for accelerating light-powered biocatalysis in Rhodopseudomonas palustris. Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts, 2023, 16, 160
Jingya Song, Jian Fan, Cong Fan, Nike He, Xixi Ye, Mingfeng Cao, Jifeng Yuan*. A layered-genetic design enables the yeast galactose regulon to respond to cyanamide. ACS Synthetic Biology, 2023, 12(9), 2783-2788
Lingrui Liu, Lu Zhang, Junyi Wang, Mingfeng Cao*, Jifeng Yuan*. Copper-inducible expression system for metabolic engineering of Escherichia coli. Journal of Applied Microbiology, 2023, 134(6), lxad109
Yanlin Li, Jing Wang, Linyong Li, Wenhui Song, Min Li, Xin Hua, Yu Wang, Jifeng Yuan*, Zheyong Xue*. Natural products of pentacyclic triterpenoids: from the discovery to heterologous biosynthesis. Natural Product Reports, 2023, 40(8), 1303-1353
2022
Qiwen Mo, Wei Song, Zheyong Xue*, Jifeng Yuan*. Multi-level engineering of Saccharomyces cerevisiae for synthesis and accumulation of retinal. Green Chemistry, 2022, 24, 8259-8263
Jifeng Yuan*#, Jie Cheng#, Cong Fan, Peiling Wu, Yang Zhang, Mingfeng Cao, Tuo Shi*. Development of shuttle vectors for rapid prototyping of engineered Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 2022, 106 (24), 8169-8181
Taiwei Yang, Peiling Wu, Yang Zhang, Mingfeng Cao, Jifeng Yuan*. High-titre production of aromatic amines in metabolically engineered Escherichia coli. Journal of Applied Microbiology, 2022, 133, 2931-2940
Cong Fan#, Danli Zhang#, Qiwen Mo, Jifeng Yuan*. Engineering Saccharomyces cerevisiae-based biosensors for copper detection. Microbial Biotechnology, 2022, 15, 2854-2860
Yang Zhang*, Jie Cheng, Yuting He, Jifeng Yuan*. Photo-fermentative hydrogen production performance of a newly isolated Rubrivivax gelatinosus YP03 strain with acid tolerance. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 2022, 47(48), 20784-20792
Wei Song#, Chunchun Zhang#, Jiali Wu, Jianzhao Qi, Xin Hua, Liping Kang*, Qiang Yuan*, Jifeng Yuan*, Zheyong Xue*. Characterization of three Paris polyphylla glycosyltransferases from different UGT families for steroid functionalization. ACS Synthetic Biology, 2022, 11(4), 1669-1680
Yuling Zhu, Jifeng Yuan*. A Four-Step Enzymatic Cascade for Efficient Production of L-Phenylglycine from Biobased L-Phenylalanine. ChemBioChem, 2022, 23(8), e202100661
Yumeng Lai#, Haofeng Chen#, Lingrui Liu#, Bixia Fu, Peiling Wu, Wanrong Li, Junyan Hu, Jifeng Yuan*. Engineering a Synthetic Pathway for Tyrosol Synthesis in Escherichia coli. ACS Synthetic Biology, 2022, 11(1), 441–447
2021
Yueyang Chen, Yufen Chen, Lijun Liu, Yang Zhang, Jifeng Yuan*. Microbial synthesis of 4-hydroxybenzoate from renewable feedstocks. Food Chemistry: Molecular Sciences, 2021, 3, 100059
Bixia Fu, Gezhi Xiao, Yang Zhang, Jifeng Yuan*. One-Pot Bioconversion of Lignin-Derived Substrates into Gallic Acid. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2021, 69(38), 11336–11341
Bixia Fu#, Gezhi Xiao#, Yuling Zhu, Yueyang Chen, Yumeng Lai, Jifeng Yuan*. Renewable Vanillylamine Synthesis from Lignin-Derived Substrates. ACS Agricultural Science and Technology, 2021,1(5), 566–571
Yang Zhang, Xiaohui Song, Yumeng Lai, Qiwen Mo, Jifeng Yuan*. High-yielding terpene-based biofuel production in Rhodobacter capsulatus. ACS Synthetic Biology, 2021, 10(6), 1545–1552
Yufen Chen#, Bixia Fu#, Gezhi Xiao, Liang-Yu Ko, Tzu-Yu Kao, Cong Fan, Jifeng Yuan*. Bioconversion of Lignin-Derived Feedstocks to Muconic Acid by Whole-Cell Biocatalysis. ACS Food Science and Technology, 2021, 1(3), 382–387
Yang Zhang, Jifeng Yuan*. CRISPR/Cas12a-mediated genome engineering in the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodobacter capsulatus. Microbial Biotechnology, 2021, 14(6), 2700–2710
Qiwen Mo#, Huiyu Chen#, Cong Fan#, Danli Zhang, Lingrui Liu, Bixia Fu, Jifeng Yuan*. Utilization of a styrene-derived pathway for 2-phenylethanol production in budding yeast. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 2021, 105(6), 2333-2340
Jifeng Yuan*, Qiwen Mo, Cong Fan. New Set of Yeast Vectors for Shuttle Expression in Escherichia coli. ACS Omega, 2021, 6(10), 7175–7180
Peiling Wu#, Yufen Chen#, Mingyu Liu, Gezhi Xiao, Jifeng Yuan*. Engineering an Optogenetic CRISPRi Platform for Improved Chemical Production. ACS Synthetic Biology, 2021, 10(1), 125-131
2020
Yuling Zhu#, Taiwei Yang#, Yueyang Chen, Cong Fan, Jifeng Yuan*. One-Pot Synthesis of Aromatic Amines via Whole-Cell Biocatalysis. Chemistryselect, 2020, 5, 14292-14295
Yufen Chen#, Peiling Wu#, Liang-Yu Ko, Tzu-Yu Kao, Lijun Liu, Yang Zhang, Jifeng Yuan*. High-yielding protocatechuic acid synthesis from L-tyrosine in Escherichia coli. ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, 2020, 8(39), 14949-14954
Baiyun Zeng#, Yumeng Lai#, Lijun Liu, Jie Cheng, Yang Zhang, Jifeng Yuan*. Engineering Escherichia coli for High-Yielding Hydroxytyrosol Synthesis from Biobased L‐Tyrosine. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 2020, 68(29), 7691–7696
Zuoxi Mao#, Lijun Liu#, Yang Zhang#, Jifeng Yuan*. Efficient Synthesis of Phenylacetate and 2-Phenylethanol via One-Pot Cascade Biocatalysis. ChemBioChem, 2020, 21(18), 2676-2679
Lijun Liu, Yuling Zhu, Yufen Chen, Huiyu Chen, Cong Fan, Qiwen Mo, Jifeng Yuan*. One‐Pot Cascade Biotransformation for Efficient Synthesis of Benzyl Alcohol and Its Analogs. Chemistry - An Asian Journal, 2020, 15(7),1018-1021
Yang Zhang*, Jifeng Yuan*, Liejing Guo. Enhanced bio-hydrogen production from cornstalk hydrolysate pretreated by alkaline-enzymolysis with orthogonal design method. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 2020, 45(6),3750-3759
Before 2019
Jifeng Yuan, Benedict Ryan Lukito, Zhi Li*. De novo synthesis of (S)- and (R)-phenylethanediol in yeast via artificial enzyme cascades. ACS Synthetic Biology, 2019, 8(8), 1801-1808
Jifeng Yuan*, Xue Chen, Pranjul Mishra, Chi-Bun Ching*. Metabolically engineered budding yeast for enhanced production of isoamyl alcohol. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 2017, 101(1):465-475
Jifeng Yuan*, Chi-Bun Ching*. Mitochondrial acetyl-CoA utilization pathway for terpenoid productions. Metabolic Engineering, 2016, 38:303-308
Jifeng Yuan*, Pranjul Mishra, Chi-Bun Ching. Metabolically engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae for branched-chain ester productions. Journal of Biotechnology, 2017; 239:90-97
Wen Xu#, Jifeng Yuan*#, Shuiyun Yang*, Chi-Bun Ching, Jiankang Liu. Programming saposin-mediated compensatory metabolic sinks for enhancing ubiquinone productions. ACS Synthetic Biology, 2016, 5(12):1404-1411
Jifeng Yuan*, Pranjul Mishra, Chi-Bun Ching. Engineering the leucine biosynthetic pathway for isoamyl alcohol production in budding yeast. Journal of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology, 2016, 44(1):107-117
Jifeng Yuan*, Chi-Bun Ching*. Dynamic control of ERG9 expression for improved amorpha-4,11-diene production in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Microbial Cell Factories, 2015, 14, 38
Jifeng Yuan*, Chi-Bun Ching. Combinatorial assembly of large biochemical pathways into yeast chromosomes for improved production of value-added compounds. ACS Synthetic Biology, 2015, 4(1):23-31
Jifeng Yuan*, Chi-Bun Ching. Combinatorial engineering of mevalonate pathway for improved amorpha-4,11-diene production in budding yeast. Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 2014, 111(3):608-617
Jifeng Yuan*, Hongcai Gao, Jianjun Sui, Hongwei Duan, Wei Ning Chen, Chi-Bun Ching. Cytotoxicity evaluation of oxidized single-walled carbon nanotubes and graphene oxide on human hepatoma HepG2 cells: An iTRAQ-coupled 2D LC-MS/MS proteome analysis. Toxicological Sciences, 2012, 126(1):149-156
Jifeng Yuan*, Hongcai Gao, Chi-Bun Ching*. Comparative protein profile of human HepG2 cells treated with graphene and single-walled carbon nanotubes: An iTRAQ-coupled 2D LC-MS/MS proteome analysis. Toxicology Letters, 2011, 15; 207(3); 213-221
Jifeng Yuan*, Hongcai Gao, Jianjun Sui, Wei Ning Chen, Chi-Bun Ching*. Cytotoxicity of single-walled carbon nanotubes on human hepatoma HepG2 cells: an iTRAQ-coupled 2D LC-MS/MS proteome analysis. Toxicology In Vitro, 2011, 25(8): 1820-1827
