Fig. 1: Design of an artificial yeast cell factory to facilitate the efficient starch synthesis from carbon dioxide.

Acetate electro-synthesized from carbon dioxide was used as feedstock for starch synthesis by synthetic yeast Yarrowia lipolytica, which was systematically reprogrammed to accumulate high-level starch. The mechanism supporting the high-level starch biosynthesis was clarified, and the microbial starch production from the natural photosynthesis byproduct, straw, was demonstrated. CO2 carbon dioxide, Ac-CoA acetyl-CoA, TCA tricarboxylic acid, GNG gluconeogenesis, Glu glucose, FAc-CoA fatty acyl-CoA. [Created in BioRender. Shi, Z. (2025) https://BioRender.com/x81f786].