Personal Info

Zongbao K. ZHAO

Professor of Bioengineering

Editor of FEMS Yeast Research

Editor of Bioresources and Bioprocessing

Research interests in Zhao’s lab include Biomass conversion technology, synthetic biotechnology and chemical biology, with special focus on biomass conversion into biofuels and chemicals, systems biology of oleaginous yeasts, and non-natural redox cofactor-mediated metabolism. To date, he has co-authored over 280 research papers, 5 book chapters and held over 60 patents. According to Google Scholar, he received 14,100+ citations with an h-index of 61.

Working and Education Experience

2023.10—   Dalian University of Technology, Professor

2015.04—2023.10, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Professor, Vice-dean

2003.11—2023.10, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Professor

2001.03—2003.10, University of Texas at Austin, Postdoc Associate

1998.08—2001.02, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Postdoc Fellow

1995.09—1998.07, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, PhD

1992.09—1995.08, Hunan Normal University, MS

Representative Publications

1. Li Q, Guo XJ, Wang XY, Wang JT, Wan L, Xue HZ, Zhao ZK*. Creation of cytochrome P450 catalysis depending on a non-natural cofactor for fatty acid hydroxylation. J. Energy Chem. 2023, 79, 31–36.  

2. Huang QT, Kamal R, Shen HW, Lu HB, Song JY, Chu YD, Xue C*, Zhao ZK*. Pilot-scale conversion of corn stover into lipids by the red yeast Rhodosporidium toruloides. J. Environ. Chem. Eng. 2022, 10, 108858. 

3. Wang XY, Feng YB, Guo XJ, Wang Q, Ning SY, Li Q, Wang JT, Wang L, Zhao ZK*. Creating enzymes and self-sufficient cells for biosynthesis of the non-natural cofactor nicotinamide cytosine dinucleotide. Nat. Commun. 2021, 12(1), 116.  

4. Guo XJ, Liu YX, Wang Q, Wang XY, Li Q, Liu WJ, Zhao ZK*. Non-natural cofactor and formate-driven reductive carboxylation of pyruvate. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2020, 59(8), 3143–3146.  

5. Liu YX, Feng YB, Wang L, Guo XJ, Liu WJ, Li Q, Wang XY, Xue S*, Zhao ZK*. Structural insights into phosphite dehydrogenase variants favoring a non-natural redox cofactor. ACS Catal. 2019, 9(3), 1883–1887.  

6. Wang YN, Zhang SF*, Zhu ZW, Shen HW, Lin XP, Jin X, Jiao X, Zhao ZK*. Systems analysis of phosphate-limitation induced lipid accumulation by the oleaginous yeast Rhodosporidium toruloides. Biotechnol. Biofuels 2018, 11, 148.  

7. Zhu ZW, Zhou YJ, Krivoruchko A, Grininger M, Zhao ZK*, Nielsen J*. Expanding the product portfolio of fungal type I fatty acid synthases. Nat. Chem. Biol. 2017, 13(4), 360–362.  

8. Wang L, Ji DB, Liu YX, Wang Q, Wang XY, Zhou YJ, Zhang YX, Liu WJ*, Zhao ZK*. Synthetic cofactor-linked metabolic circuits for selective energy transfer. ACS Catal. 2017, 7(3), 1977–1983.  

9. Gong ZW, Shen HW, Yang XB, Wang Q, Xie HB, Zhao ZK*. Lipid production from corn stover by the oleaginous yeast Cryptococcus curvatus. Biotechnol. Biofuels 2014, 7, 158.  

10. Guo J, Zhou YJ, Hillwig ML, Shen Y, Yang L, Wang YJ, Zhang XN, Liu WJ, Peters RJ*, Chen XY, Zhao ZK*, Huang LQ*. CYP76AH1 catalyzes turnover of miltiradiene in tanshinones biosynthesis and enables heterologous production of ferruginol in yeasts. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2013, 110(29), 12108–12113. 

11. Zhu ZW, Zhang SF, Liu HW, Shen HW, Lin XP, Yang F, Zhou YJ, Jin GJ, Ye ML, Zou HF*, Zhao ZK*. A multi-omic map of the lipid-producing yeast Rhodosporidium toruloides. Nat. Commun. 2012, 3, 1112. 

12. Zhou YJ, Gao W, Rong QX, Jin GJ, Chu HY, Liu WJ, Yang W, Zhu ZW, Li GH, Zhu GF, Huang LQ*, Zhao ZK*. Modular pathway engineering of diterpenoid synthases and the mevalonic acid pathway for miltiradiene production. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2012, 134(6), 3234–3241.  

13. Ji DB, Wang L, Hou SH, Liu WJ, Wang JX, Wang Q, Zhao ZK*. Creation of bioorthogonal redox systems depending on nicotinamide flucytosine dinucleotide. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2011, 133(51), 20857–20862.