Zengyi Shao
Title(s):
Professor
Hershel B. Whitney Professor, Global Initiatives
Office
4140 Biorenewables Research Laboratory
617 Bissell Rd.
Ames, IA 50011-1098
Information
Links
Education
- Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2009
- M.S. Chemical Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2005
- B.S. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Nankai University, China, 2002
Interest Areas
- Synthetic Biology
- Genome Engineering
- Metabolic Engineering
- Biochemical Engineering and Biorenewables
- Biomedical Engineering and Disease Models
The advent of synthetic biology has revolutionized our ability to understand molecular mechanisms in complex biological processes, re-program genetic coding, and create novel functions. Our group is interested in both biochemical engineering and biomedical engineering, with the long-term goal to elucidate the ‘functional genomics’ of high-performing microbial species that have unique genetic, biochemical, metabolic, and physiological features. We strive for developing platform technologies to provide generalizable strain-engineering solutions, enabling rapid, functional modifications of high-performance microbes, and exploring their potentials as microbial factories and/or disease models.
Bio
Dr. Shao received her Ph.D. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 2009. She is now a Hershel B. Whitney Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the Iowa State University and affiliated with the NSF Center for Biorenewable Chemicals (CBiRC) and the DOE Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation (CABBI). Her research group strives to develop platform strain-engineering technologies to explore the biochemical and biomedical potentials of high-performance microbes. She is the awardee of the National Academies Keck Futures Initiative Award (2010), the Iowa Energy Center Impact Award (2016), the NSF CAREER Award (2018), the Bailey Research Career Development Award (2021), the NIH Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (2021), and the Award for Mid-Career Achievement in Research at Iowa State University (2023).
Publications
+ Denotes the student co-authors from the Shao group.
† Denotes the corresponding author.
* Denotes the co-first authors.
♢ Y. Zhao*+†, Z. Yao*+, V. Desai*+, D. Chen+, and Z. Shao†, “Building Synthetic Yeast Factories to Produce Fat-soluble Antioxidants”, Current Opinion in Biotechnology, 87:103129, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copbio.2024.103129 (2024).
♢ M. Gao*+, Y. Zhao*+, Z. Yao+, Q. Su+, P. V. Beek+, and Z. Shao†, “Xylose and Shikimate Transporters Facilitates Microbial Consortium as a Chassis for Benzylisoquinoline Alkaloid Production”, Nature Communications, 14(1):7797, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-43049-w (2023).
♢ Z-Y. Wu*, W. Sun*+, Y. Shen, J. Pratas, P. F. Suthers, P-H Hsieh, S. Dwaraknath, J. D. Rabinowitz, C. D. Maranas, Z. Shao†, and Y. Yoshikuni†, “Metabolic Engineering of Low-pH-tolerant Non-model yeast, Issatchenkia orientalis, for Production of Citramalate”, Metabolic Engineering Communications, 16: e00220, DOI: 10.1016/j.mec.2023.e00220 (2023).
♢ D. Ploessl*+†, Y. Zhao*+, and Z. Shao†, “Engineering of Non-model Eukaryotes for Bioenergy and Biochemical Production”, Current Opinion in Biotechnology, 79, 102869, DOI: 10.1016/j.copbio.2022.102869 (2023).
♢ D. Ploessl+, Y. Zhao+, M. Cao+, S. Ghosh+, C. Lopez+, M. Sayadi, S. Chudalayandi, A. Severin, L. Huang+, M. Gustafson+, and Z. Shao†, “A Repackaged CRISPR Platform Increases Homology-directed Repair for Yeast Engineering”, Nature Chemical Biology, 18, 38-46, DOI: 10.1038/s41589-021-00893-5 (2022).
♢ Y-H. V. Soong, L. Zhao+, N. Liu, P. Yu, C. Lopez+, A. Olson, H-W. Wong, Z. Shao†, and D. Xie†, “Microbial Synthesis of Wax Esters”, Metabolic Engineering, 67, 428-442, DOI: 10.1016/j.ymben.2021.08.002 (2021).
♢ J. Feng, J. Zhang, Y. Ma, Y. Feng, S. Wang, N. Guo, H. Wang, P. Wang, P. Jiménez-Bonilla, Y. Gu, J. Zhou, Z-T. Zhang, M. Cao+, D. Jiang, S. Wang, X-W. Liu, Z. Shao, I. Borovok, H. Huang, and Yi Wang†, “Renewable Fatty Acid Ester Production in Clostridium”, Nature Communications, 12, 4368, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-24038-3 (2021).
♢ C. Lopez+, M. Cao+†, Z. Yao+, and Z. Shao†, “Revisiting the Unique Structure of Autonomously Replicating Sequences in Yarrowia lipolytica and Its Role in Pathway Engineering”, Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 105, 5959-5972, DOI: 10.1007/s00253-021-11399-4 (2021).
♢ M. Cao, Z. Fatma, X. Song, P.-H. Hsieh, V. G. Tran, W. L. Lyon, M. Sayadi, Z. Shao, Y. Yoshikuni, and H. Zhao†, “A Genetic Toolbox for Metabolic Engineering of Issatchenkia orientalis”, Metabolic Engineering, 59, 87-97, DOI: 10.1016/j.ymben.2020.01.005 (2020).
♢ Y. Chen, E. Boggess, E. Ocasio, A. Warner+, L. Kerns, V. Drapal, C. Gossling, W. Ross, Z. Shao, J. A. Dickerson, T. J. Mansell†, and L. R. Jarboe†, “Reverse Engineering of Fatty Acid-tolerant Escherichia coli Identifies Design Strategies for Robust Microbial Cell Factories”, Metabolic Engineering, 61, 120-130, DOI: 10.1016/j.ymben.2020.05.001 (2020).
♢ Y. Zhao+, Z. Yao+, D. Ploessl+, G. Saptarshi+, M. Monti, D. Schindler, M. Gao+, Y. Cai, M. Qiao, C. Yang†, M. Cao+†, and Z. Shao†, “Leveraging the Hermes Transposon to Accelerate the Development of Nonconventional Yeast-based Microbial Cell Factories”, ACS Synthetic Biology, 9 (7), 1736-1752, DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.0c00123 (2020).
♢ W. Sun+, A. Vila-Santa, N. Liu, T. Prozorov, D. Xie, N. T. Faria, F. C. Ferreira, N. P. Mira†, and Z. Shao†, “Metabolic Engineering of an Acid-tolerant Yeast Strain Pichia kudriavzevii for Itaconic Acid Production”, Metabolic Engineering Communications, 10, e00124, DOI: 10.1016/j.mec.2020.e00124 (2020).
♢ C. Lopez+, Y. Zhao+, and Z. Shao†, “Modulating Pathway Performance by Perturbing Local Genetic Context”, ACS Synthetic Biology, 9 (4), 706-717, DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.9b00445 (2020).
♢ M. Cao*+, M. Gao*+, M. Suastegui+, Y. Mei+, and Z. Shao†, “Building Microbial Factories for the Production of Aromatic Amino Acid Pathway Derivatives: From Commodity Chemicals to Plant-sourced Natural Products”, Metabolic Engineering, 58, 94-132, DOI: 10.1016/j.ymben.2019.08.008 (2020).
♢ M. Gao+, D. Ploessl+, and Z. Shao†, “Enhancing the Co-utilization of Biomass-Derived Mixed Sugars by Yeasts”, Frontiers in Microbiology, 9, 3264, DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.03264 (2019).
♢ A. Londono-Calderon, W. Sun+, Z. Shao, D.H. Alsem, T. Prozorov†, “Correlative Microbially-Assisted Imaging of Cellulose Deconstruction with Electron Microscopy”, Microscopy and Microanalysis, 24 (S1), 382-383, DOI: doi.org/10.1017/S1431927618002404 (2018).
♢ M. Cao+, M. Gao+, D. Ploessl+, and Z. Shao†, “CRISPR–mediated Genome Editing and Gene Repression in Scheffersomyces stipitis”, Biotechnology Journal, DOI: 10.1002/biot.201700598 (2018).
♢ J. Sun*, L. Zhao*+, Z. Shao, J. V. Shanks, and C. Peebles†, “Expression of Tabersonine 16-Hydroxylase and 16-Hydroxytabersonine-O-methyltransferase in Catharanthus roseus Hairy Roots”, Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 115, 673-683, DOI: 10.1002/bit.26487 (2018).
♢ M. Cao+, A. Seetharam, A. Severin, and Z. Shao†, “Rapid Isolation of Centromeres from Scheffersomyces stipitis”, ACS Synthetic Biology, 6, 2028-2034, DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.7b00166 (2017).
♢ M. Suastegui+, C. Y. Ng, A. Chowdhury, W. Sun+, E. House+, C. D. Maranas, and Z. Shao†, “Multilevel Engineering of the Upstream Module of Aromatic Amino Acid Biosynthesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae for High Production of Polymer and Drug Precursors”, Metabolic Engineering, 42, 134-144, DOI: 10.1016/j.ymben.2017.06.008 (2017).
♢ M. Cao+, M. Gao+, C. Lopez+, Y. Wu+, A. Seetharam, A. Severin, and Z. Shao†, “Centromeric DNA Facilitates Scheffersomyces stipitis Genetic Engineering”, ACS Synthetic Biology, 6 (8), 1545-1553, DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.7b00046 (2017).
♢ J. Matthiesen, M. Suastegui+, Y. Wu+, M. Viswanathan, Y. Qu, M. Cao+, N. Rodriguez-Quiroz, A. Okerlund, G. Kraus, R. Raman, Z. Shao, and J.-P.Tessonnier†, “Electrochemical Conversion of Biologically-Produced Muconic Acid: Key Considerations for Scale-up and Corresponding Technoeconomic Analysis”, ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, 4 (12), 7098–7109, DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.6b01981 (2016).
♢ M. Gao+, M. Cao+, M. Suastegui+, J. Walker, N. R. Quiroz, Y. Wu+, D. Tribby+, A. Okerlund, L. Stanley, J. V. Shanks and Z. Shao†, “Innovating a Nonconventional Yeast Platform for Producing Shikimic Acid as the Building Block of High-value Aromatics”, ACS Synthetic Biology, 6 (1), 29-38, DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.6b00132 (2016).
♢ M. Suastegui+ and Z. Shao†, “Yeast Factories for Production of Aromatic Compounds: from Building Blocks to Plant Secondary Metabolites”, Journal of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology, 43(11), 611-1624, DOI: 10.1007/s10295-016-1824-9 (2016, the front cover).
♢ M. Suastegui+, W. Guo, X. Feng†, and Z. Shao†, “Investigating Strain Dependency in the Production of Aromatic Compounds in Saccharomyces cerevisiae”, Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 113(12), 2676-2685, DOI: 10.1002/bit.26037 (2016).
♢ Y. Zhao, M. Cao+, J. F. McClelland, Z. Shao, and M. Lu†, “A Photoacoustic Immunoassay for Biomarker Detection”, Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 85, 261-266, DOI: 10.1016/j.bios.2016.05.028 (2016).
♢ M. Suastegui*+, J. E. Matthiesen*, J. M. Carraher, N. Hernandez, N. R. Quiroz, A. Okerlund, E. W. Cochran, Z. Shao†, and J.-P. Tessonnier†, “Combining Metabolic Engineering and Electrocatalysis: Application to the Production of Polyamides from Sugar”, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 55, 2368-2373, DOI: 10.1002/anie.201509653 (2016, the front cover).
Primary Strategic Research Area
Engineered Medicine