Our research interest includes the metabolic engineering of industrial filamentous fungi and the exploration of the regulatory mechanisms of biomass degradation and utilization by filamentous fungi. We have constructed the synthetic pathways of bio-based chemicals to enhance the efficiency of the biological manufacturing process. This work aims to build highly efficient industrial filamentous fungal cell factories, achieving the one-step conversion of biomass into bio-based chemicals.

Professional Experience

2018.11-present, Associate Professor, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin, CN

2015.07-2018.11, Senior Researcher, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin, CN

Education

2010.09-2015.06, PhD, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin, CN

2006.09-2010.06, BSc, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxin, CN

2020, The fellow of Youth Innovation Promotion Association of the Chinese Academy of Sciences

2015, Excellent Graduates in Chinese Academy of Sciences

2015, Excellent Graduates in Beijing Municipality

1. Zhao Z, Gu S, Liu D, Liu D, Chen B, Li J*, Tian C*. The putative methyltransferase LaeA regulates mycelium growth and cellulase production in Myceliophthora thermophila. Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts. 2023;16(1).

2. Wu T, Li J*, Tian C*. Fungal carboxylate transporters: recent manipulations and applications. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol. 2023.

3. Gu S#, Zhao Z#, Xue F, Liu D, Liu Q, Li J*, Tian C*. The arabinose transporter MtLat-1 is involved in hemicellulase repression as a pentose transceptor in Myceliophthora thermophila. Biotechnol Biofuels Bioprod. 2023;16(1):51.

4. Wu T, Wang Y, Li J*, Tian C*. Dissecting key residues of a C4-dicarboxylic acid transporter to accelerate malate export in Myceliophthora. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol. 2022.

5. Gu S, Zhao Z, Yao Y, Li J*, Tian C*. Designing and Constructing a Novel Artificial Pathway for Malonic Acid Production Biologically. Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2022;9.

6. Wang H, Sun T, Zhao Z, Gu S, Liu Q, Wu T, Wang D, Tian C, Li J*. Transcriptional Profiling of Myceliophthora thermophila on Galactose and Metabolic Engineering for Improved Galactose Utilization. Front Microbiol. 2021;12.

7. Li J#, Chen B#, Gu S#, Zhao Z, Liu Q, Sun T, Zhang Y, Wu T, Liu D, Sun W, Tian C*. Coordination of consolidated bioprocessing technology and carbon dioxide fixation to produce malic acid directly from plant biomass in Myceliophthora thermophila. Biotechnol Biofuels. 2021;14(1):186.

8. Li J, Lin L, Sun T, Xu J, Ji J, Liu Q, Tian C*. Direct production of commodity chemicals from lignocellulose using Myceliophthora thermophila. Metab Eng. 2019;61 (2020 ):416–26.

9. Liu Q#, Li J#, Gao R#, Li J, Ma G, Tian C*. CLR-4, a novel conserved transcription factor for cellulase gene expression in ascomycete fungi. Mol Microbiol. 2019;111(2):373-94.

10. Xu G#, Li J#, Liu Q#, Sun W, Jiang M, Tian C*. Transcriptional analysis of Myceliophthora thermophila on soluble starch and role of regulator AmyR on polysaccharide degradation. Bioresour Technol. 2018;265:558-62.

National Natural Science Foundation of China, Construction of artificially anaerobic fungal chassis based on fumaric acid respiration, 2023.01-2026.12

National Natural Science Foundation of China, Metabolic engineering of Myceliophthora thermophilia to decrease the byproduct accumulation during malic acid fermentation, 2021.01-2024.12

National Natural Science Foundation of China, Exploring the MtLAT-1 molecular function and its regulation in Myceliophthora thermophila, 2017.01-2019.12

National Key R&D Program of China, Ministry of Science and Technology of PR China, Construction of efficient fungal cell factory of biobased organic acid, 2019.07-2024.06