Research primarily focuses on constructing and applying photosynthetic/electrochemical-driven biosynthetic systems. Addressing challenges such as energy imbalance in biosynthetic pathways, substrate sacrifice requirements, and poor atom economy, we develop artificial photosynthetic coenzyme regeneration systems to drive the biosynthesis of C1 to high-value compounds. This approach aims to efficiently couple renewable energy with biocatalysis, enabling sustainable production of green, high-value chemicals.

Education

2015.9 to 2020.6, Ph.D, Key Laboratory of Photobiology, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

2017.9 to 2018.2, Ph.D, Sino-French “Cai Yuanpei” Joint Doctoral Program, Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA), France

2010.9 to 2013.6, M.Sc. School of Life Sciences, Yunnan University, China

2006.9 to 2010.6, B.Sc. Hainan University, China

Professional Experience

2025.9 to present, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Associate Researcher

2025.1 to 2025.9, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Assistant Researcher

2020.7 to 2024.12, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Postdoctoral Fellow

2013.7 to 2015.7, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Research Trainee

1.       Fei Li, Xinlei Wei, Lin Zhang, Cheng Liu, Chun You, Zhiguang Zhu*. Installing a green engine to drive an enzyme cascade: a light-powered in vitro biosystem for poly (3-hydroxybutyrate) synthesis. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2022, 61, e202111054.

2.       Ranran Wu^#, Fei Li^#, Xinyu Cui, Zehua Li, Chunling Ma, Huifeng Jiang, Lingling Zhang, Yi-Heng P. Job Zhang, Tongxin Zhao, Yanping Zhang, Yin Li, Hui Chen, Zhiguang Zhu*. Enzymatic electrosynthesis of glycine from CO₂ and NH₃. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2023, 62, e202218387. (#: Co-first author)

3.       Xinyue Gui^†, Fei Li^†, Xinyu Cui, Ranran Wu, Dingyu Liu, Chunling Ma, Lijuan Ma, Huifeng Jiang, Chun You*, and Zhiguang Zhu*. A light-driven in vitro enzymatic biosystem for α-farnesene synthesis from methanol. BioDesign Research, 2024;6: Article 0039. (†: Co-first author).

4.       Xiao Ning^†, Fei Li^†, Xinlei Wei, Zhiguang Zhu, Chun You*. A Light-Powered In Vitro Synthetic Enzymatic Biosystem for the Synthesis of 3-Hydroxypropionic Acid via CO₂ Fixation. ACS Synthetic Biology, 2024, 13, 2611-262. (†: Co-first author).

5.       Fei Li^#, Cheng Liu^#, Simona Streckaite, Chunhong Yang, Pengqi Xu, Manuel J. Llansola-Portoles, Cristian Ilioaia*, Andrew A. Pascal, Roberta Croce, Bruno Robert*. A new, unquenched intermediate of LHCII. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2021, 296: 100322. (#: Co-first author).

6.       Fei Li, Ling Li, Lishuan Wu, Lin Zhang, Linzhi Zhang, Chunhong Yang, Cheng Liu*. Electrostatic adsorption of a fluorophores-modified light-harvesting complex II on TiO₂ photoanodes enhances photovoltaic performance. Journal of Power Sources, 2020, 449: 227604.