Notice of the "Overseas Scholars' Visit to Huayuan" forum

Sub-forum of the School of Biology and Biological Engineering

South China University of Technology (University Town Campus)

Dear Faculty Members and Students:

The Overseas Scholars' Visit to Huayuan sub-forum of the School of Biology and Biological Engineering of South China University of Technology was launched in December 2025. The forum invites outstanding young scholars from around the world with diverse academic background to engage in discussions on international scientific frontiers, emerging research fields, and key technological challenges in industries. This academic platform aims to inspire participants, broaden global perspectives, enhance international exchanges and collaboration, and promote mutual academic development. All faculty members and students are warmly welcome to attend!

Forum Information

Time: December 24, 2025, 15:00-16:00

Venue: Conference Room B6-207, University Town Campus, South China University of Technology 

Forum Agenda:

South China University of Technology School of Biology and Biological Engineering

December 23, 2025

Attachment:

Title: Plastic Carbon Sources Drive Green Biomanufacturing

Speaker: Dr. Jinjin Diao

Abstract:

As a synthetic polymer, plastic has an extremely stable structure and chemical properties. Its continuous accumulation in nature has caused great harm to ecological security. Inspired by the biotransformation of lignin, high-molecular plastic polymers can also be depolymerized under chemical treatment to obtain corresponding small-molecule monomer compounds, which can then be utilized by microorganisms. This opens up new opportunities for addressing the plastic pollution crisis and developing plastic carbon source to drive biomanufacturing. We focus on constructing a chassis that can utilize plastic carbon sources by using non-model microorganisms with a broad metabolic substrate spectrum, to achieve high-value transformation of plastic carbon sources. Around PET plastic, Rhodococcus jostii PET (RPET) was discovered, which can utilize the hydrolysis products of PET plastic as the sole carbon source. High-version chassis cells were constructed by developing specific synthetic biology tools, and lycopene was efficiently synthesized using PET plastic carbon sources. For the biotransformation of polyolefin plastics, such as polyethylene (PE), a nitric acid oxidation method was established to depolymerize PE into binary organic acids. Combining the inherent advantage of the non-model microorganism Acinetobacter's natural ability to utilize binary organic acids, through multi-scale omics integration analysis, the metabolic and regulatory pathways of Acinetobacter's utilization of binary organic acids were elucidated. Finally, the high-value transformation of PE plastic carbon sources is achieved by reconstructing the dominant chassis through reverse genetics. Furthermore, due to the complex and variable depolymerization products of mixed plastics, traditional single microbial chassis cannot be efficiently transformed. Based on the principle of Division of labor in Microbial engineering (DOL), we have constructed an artificial multicellular system composed of RPET and Acinetobacter, which can effectively overcome the challenges of high heterogeneity and difficult utilization of depolymerization products of mixed plastics, and efficiently utilize mixed plastics to drive biomanufacturing. This series of work highlights the significant role of non-model microorganisms in the field of biotechnology applications. Meanwhile, the solution of plastic carbon source driven biomanufacturing also demonstrates its great potential in replacing traditional petrochemical refining and synthetic chemicals and addressing the plastic pollution crisis.

Speaker Biography:

Dr. Jinjin Diao obtained his Doctor of Engineering degree at the School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University in 2018. His supervisor is Professor Weiwen Zhang, the chief scientist of the National Key Research and Development Program of Synthetic Biology and a Chair professor at Tianjin University. Subsequently, He conducted postdoctoral research at the Department of Energy, Environment and Chemical Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, USA under supervision of Professor Tae Seok Moon. Upon completing his postdoctoral training in 2022, he held the positions of Staff Scientist and Senior Scientist at Washington University in St. Louis. As an independent PI, he joined the Department of Chemical Engineering at Guangdong Technion - Israel Institute of Technology in February 2025 as an associate professor. Mainly engaged in research on the metabolic regulation and chassis modification of non-model microorganisms, as well as the development of common synthetic biotechnology. In the past five years, he has presided over three scientific research projects funded by the United States Department of Agriculture, the National Science Foundation of the United States, and the United States Department of Defense. He has successively published 29 papers in journals such as Nature Communications, Trends in Biotechnology, Cell Reports, and Metabolic Engineering, with more than 1,000 citations. One authorized invention patent in the United States and three authorized invention patents in China have been obtained.