Cell-free chemoenzymatic starch synthesis from carbon dioxide

Starches, a storage form of carbohydrates, are a major source of calories in the human diet and a primary feedstock for bioindustry. We report a chemical-biochemical hybrid pathway for starch synthesis from carbon dioxide (CO2) and hydrogen in a cell-free system. The artificial starch anabolic pathway (ASAP), consisting of 11 core reactions, was drafted by computational pathway design, established through modular assembly and substitution, and optimized by protein engineering of three bottleneck-associated enzymes. In a chemoenzymatic system with spatial and temporal segregation, ASAP, driven by hydrogen, converts CO2 to starch at a rate of 22 nanomoles of CO2 per minute per milligram of total catalyst, an similar to 8.5-fold higher rate than starch synthesis in maize. This approach opens the way toward future chemo-biohybrid starch synthesis from CO2.

Automated summary

Researchers have developed an artificial starch anabolic pathway (ASAP) in a cell-free system for starch synthesis from CO2 and hydrogen, achieving a significantly higher rate than traditional methods. This approach paves the way for future chemo-biohybrid starch synthesis from CO2.