Education

B.S. 2012, Xi’an Jiaotong University, bioengineering;
Ph.D. 2017, Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Joint training;
Ph.D. 2018, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Power Engineering and Engineering Thermophysics.

Professional Experience

Assistant Professor, School of Life Sciences, Xiamen University, 2018 to 2026.
Associate Professor, School of Life Sciences, Xiamen University, 2026 to Present.

Research Area

By employing synthetic biology and metabolic engineering, our group focuses on engineering and devising efficient microbial cell factory (such as photosynthetic bacteria, cyanobacteria, et.ac) for cost-effective biosynthesis of high-value pharmaceutical intermediates, fragrance and flavors, fine chemicals and natural products from renewable feedstocks.

Selected Publications (*Corresponding author, #co-first author)

1. Yang Zhang #, Zhizhen Li#, Lichuang Cao#, Yan Wang, Junyi Wang, Haofeng Chen, Wenhao Li, Xinyu Gao, Qingchen Li, Zhengxin Chen, Kaixuan Xu, Xiangpeng Yang, Xiangrui Wu, Jintao Luo, Jianzhong Liu, Jifeng Yuan*. A nonclassical biosynthetic route in bacteria towards tocopherol synthesis. Nature Metabolism, 2026, 8, 1805-1817
2. Haidong Yu#, Haofeng Chen#, Guojun Yang, Zhen Huang, Jieming Zhou, Dongjiang Lin, Junru Zhao, Yang Zhang*, Jifeng Yuan*. Enhanced growth of 1-butanol producing Escherichia coli via a metabolic buffer. BioDesign Research, 2026, 8, 2:00086
3. Dianjiang Yu#, Haofeng Chen#, Yang Zhang#, Yueyang Chen, Hongwei Chen, Shujin Lin, Junyi Wang, Haoyi Yang, Xueping Ling, Ning He, Jifeng Yuan*. Biosensor-guided indexing of genome evolution (BRIDGE) for boosting microbial chemical synthesis. Trends in Biotechnology, 2026, 44, 6:1641-1659
4. 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
5. 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
6. 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
7. 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
8. 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
9. 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
10. 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
11. Yang Zhang, Jifeng Yuan*. CRISPR/Cas12a-mediated genome engineering in the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodobacter capsulatus. Microbial Biotechnology, 2021, 14(6): 2700-2710
12. Zuoxi Mao#, Lijun Liu#, Yang Zhang#, JiFeng Yang*. Efficient synthesis of phenylacetate and 2-phenylethanol via modular cascade biocatalysis. ChemBioChem, 2020, 21(8): 2676-2679
13. 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
14. Yang Zhang#, Crysten E. Blaby-Haas#, Stefan Steimle, Andreia F. Verissimo, Victor A. Garcia-Angulo, Hans-Georg Koch, Fevzi Daldal* & Bahia Khalfaoui-Hassani. Cu transport by the extended Family of CcoA-like transporters (Calt) in proteobacteria. Scientific Reports, 2019, 9
15. Yang Zhang, Qing Li, Xueqing Wang, Honghui Yang, Liejin Guo*. Enhanced biohydrogen production from cornstalk through a two-step fermentation: Dark- and photo-fermentation. International Journal of Energy Research, 2017, 41 (15): 2491-2501
16. Yang Zhang, Liejin Guo*, Honghui Yang. Enhancement of hydrogen production through a mixed culture of Enterobacter cloacae and Rhodobacter sphaeroides. Energy & Fuels, 2017, 31 (7): 7234-7240
17. Yang Zhang, Jun Hu, Hongyu Ma, Honghui Yang*, Liejin Guo*. Overexpressing atpXF enhanced photo-fermentative hydrogen production performance of Rhodobacter sphaeroides. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 2017, 42 (15): 9641-9649
18. Yang Zhang, Honghui Yang*, Jiali Feng, Liejin Guo*. Overexpressing F0/F1 operon of ATPase in Rhodobacter sphaeroides enhanced its photo-fermentative hydrogen production. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 2016, 41 (16): 6743-6751.
19. Yang Zhang, Honghui Yang*, Liejin Guo*. Enhancing photo-fermentative hydrogen production performance of Rhodobacter capsulatus by disrupting methylmalonate-semialdehyde dehydrogenase gene. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 2016, 41 (1):190-197