Education

B.S. China Agriculture University, College of Biological Sciences, 2010-2014;
Ph.D. 2019, Tsinghua University, School of Life Sciences, 2014-2019;

Professional Experience

Postdoctoral Fellow, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 2019-2023;
Associate Professor, School of Life Sciences, Xiamen University, starting from 2023.

Research Area

By leveraging synthetic biology to engineer microbial metabolic pathways, various compounds can be synthesized, and a deeper understanding of microbial metabolism enables more rational design for engineering modifications. Our lab focuses on the “how” and “why” of these processes, with three main research directions:
1) Enhancing the efficiency of bulk chemical synthesis in non-model microorganisms through metabolic engineering and laboratory adaptive evolution, using a Design-Build-Test-Learn (DBTL) cycle;
2) Utilizing multi-omics approaches to understand the metabolic mechanisms in non-model microorganisms to achieve optimal synthetic pathways;
3) Investigating transposase-mediated genome rearrangement during adaptive evolution, and developing novel genome editing tools based on these insights.

Selected Publications

1. Robin M. Cywar^#, Chen Ling^#, Ryan W. Clarke, Donghyun Kim, Colin Kneucker, Davinia Salvachúa, Shu Xu, Meltem Urgun Demirtas, Bennett Addison, Nicholas Rorrer, Christopher W. Johnson, Robert Allen, Eugene Y.-X. Chen, Gregg T. Beckham^*. Biodegradable and reprocessable thermosets from microbially-produced unsaturated polyhydroxyalkanoates. Science Advances, 2023. 9(47), eadi1735.
2. Chen Ling, George L. Peabody, Davinia Salvachúa, Young-Mo Kim, Colin M. Kneucker, Christopher H. Calvey, Michela A. Monninger, Nathalie Munoz Munoz, Brenton C. Poirier, Kelsey J. Ramirez, Peter C. St. John, Sean P. Woodworth, Jon K. Magnuson, Kristin E. Burnum-Johnson, Adam M. Guss^*, Christopher W. Johnson^* & Gregg T. Beckham^*. Muconic acid production from glucose and xylose in Pseudomonas putida via evolution and metabolic engineering.  Nature Communications, 2022. 13(1): 1-14.
3. Chen Ling^#, Guan-Qing Qiao^#, Bo-Wen Shuai^#, Kun-Nan Song, Wen-Xi Yao, Xiao-Ran Jiang^*, Guo-Qiang Chen^*. Engineering self-flocculating Halomonas campaniensis for wastewaterless open and continuous fermentation.  Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 2019, 116(4): 805-815.
4.Chen Ling, Guan-Qing Qiao, Bo-Wen Shuai, Karel Olavarria, Jin Yin, Rui-Juan Xiang, Kun-Nan Song, Yun-Hao Shen, Yingying Guo^*, Guo-Qiang Chen^*. Engineering NADH/NAD+ ratio in Halomonas bluephagenesis for enhanced production of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA). Metabolic Engineering, 2018, 49: 275-286.
5.Ying Wang, Chen Ling, Yong Chen, Xiao-Ran Jiang, Guo-Qiang Chen^*. Microbial engineering for easy downstream processing. Biotechnology Advances, 2019. 37(6): 107365.
6.Qin Qin, Chen Ling, Yiqing Zhao, Tian Yang, Jin Yin, Yingying Guo^*, Guo-Qiang Chen^*. CRISPR/Cas9 editing genome of extremophile Halomonas spp. Metabolic Engineering, 2018, 47: 219-229.
7.Yilin Ren, Chen Ling, Ivan Hajnal, Qiong Wu, Guo-Qiang Chen^*. Construction of Halomonas bluephagenesis capable of high cell density growth for efficient PHA production. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 2018, 102 (10): 4499-4510.
8.Haitao Yue, Chen Ling, Tao Yang, Xiangbin Chen, Yuling Chen, Haiteng Deng, Qiong Wu, Jinchun Chen & Guo-Qiang Chen^*. A seawater-based open and continuous process for polyhydroxyalkanoates production by recombinant Halomonas campaniensis LS21 grown in mixed substrates. Biotechnology for Biofuels, 2014, 7(1): 108.
9.Kevin J. McNaught, Eugene Kuatsjah, Michael Zahn, Andrew R. Pickford, Érica T. Prates, Chen Ling, Josephine N. Gruber, Kelley V. Hestmark, Caralyn J. Szostkiewicz, Brenton C. Poirier, Mowei Zhou, Dušan Veličković, Carrie D. Nicora, Young-Mo Kim, Gayle J. Bentley, Kristin E. Burnum-Johnson, Daniel A. Jacobson, John E. McGeehan, Christopher W. Johnson, Gregg T. Beckham^*. Initiation of fatty acid biosynthesis in Pseudomonas putida KT2440. Metabolic Engineering, 2023, 76: 193-203.
10.Sekgetho Charles Mokwatlo, Bruno Colling Klein, Pahola Thathiana Benavides, Colin M. Kneucker, Chen Ling, Kelley V. Hestmark, Allison Z. Werner, Ryan Davis, Christopher W. Johnson, Gregg T. Beckham^*, Davinia Salvachúa^*. Bioprocess development and scale-up for cis, cis-muconic acid production from glucose and xylose by Pseudomonas putida. Green Chemistry, 2024, 26(19): 10152-10167.