OOIR: Observatory of International Research

Papers

(The TQCC of Metabolic Engineering is 21. The table below lists those papers that are above that threshold based on CrossRef citation counts [max. 250 papers]. The publications cover those that have been published in the past four years, i.e., from 2022-08-01 to 2026-08-01.)

Article	Citations
Genome-wide CRISPR screening identifies genes in recombinant human embryonic kidney 293 cells for increased ammonia resistance	94
Introduction of acetyl-phosphate bypass and increased culture temperatures enhanced growth-coupled poly-hydroxybutyrate production in the marine cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. PCC7002	82
Alternative routes for production of the drug candidate d-chiro-inositol with Corynebacterium glutamicum using endogenous or promiscuous plant enzymes	81
Engineering Halomonas bluephagenesis for high-efficiency biosynthesis of pyruvate	79
Engineering sub-organelles of a diploid Saccharomyces cerevisiae to enhance the production of 7-dehydrocholesterol	69
Pan-reactome analysis of Streptomyces strains reveals association and disconnection between primary and secondary metabolism	67
Efficient production of (S)-limonene and geraniol in Saccharomyces cerevisiae through the utilization of an Erg20 mutant with enhanced GPP accumulation capability	66
Development of a thermophilic l-arabinose-inducible system in Acetivibrio thermocellus (Clostridium thermocellum)	66
Engineering carbon source division of labor for efficient α-carotene production in Corynebacterium glutamicum	65
Butyrate as a growth factor of Clostridium acetobutylicum	64
Elucidation and engineering of Sphingolipid biosynthesis pathway in Yarrowia lipolytica for enhanced production of human-type sphingoid bases and glucosylceramides	61
Engineering Yarrowia lipolytica for sustainable ricinoleic acid production: A pathway to free fatty acid synthesis	60
Engineering a biosensor based high-throughput screening platform for high-yield caffeic acid production in Escherichia coli	60
Metabolic engineering of Escherichia coli for the production of two-carbon primary amines	58
Improved arginine production in Escherichia coli by harnessing the intracellular citrulline	58
Heterologous biosynthesis of betanin triggers metabolic reprogramming in tobacco	58
Engineering Halomonas bluephagenesis for pilot production of terpolymers containing 3-hydroxybutyrate, 4-hydroxybutyrate and 3-hydroxyvalerate from glucose	58
13C-Metabolic flux analysis of 3T3-L1 adipocytes illuminates its core metabolism under hypoxia	57
Pathway elucidation and microbial synthesis of proaporphine and bis-benzylisoquinoline alkaloids from sacred lotus (Nelumbo nucifera)	56
Inferring secretory and metabolic pathway activity from omic data with secCellFie	55
Engineering an SspB-mediated degron for novel controllable protein degradation	53
Biosynthesis of 12-aminododecanoic acid from biomass sugars	53
Identification of a specific exporter that enables high production of aconitic acid in Aspergillus pseudoterreus	51
De novo 2′-fucosyllactose biosynthesis using glucose as the sole carbon source by multiple engineered Bacillus subtilis	51
Coordinating caffeic acid and salvianic acid A pathways for efficient production of rosmarinic acid in Escherichia coli	51

Quantifying supply and demand in the pea aphid-Buchnera symbiosis reveals the metabolic Achilles’ heels of this interaction	49
Optimized production of concanamycins using a rational metabolic engineering strategy	48
Development of a Streptomyces-based system for facile thioholgamide library generation and analysis	47
Machine-learning guided elucidation of contribution of individual steps in the mevalonate pathway and construction of a yeast platform strain for terpenoid production	45
Versatile xylose and arabinose genetic switches development for yeasts	45
Disruption of acyl-acyl carrier protein (acyl-ACP) synthetase in cyanobacteria impairs lipid remodeling as revealed by acyl-ACP measurements	44
Rethinking 13C-metabolic flux analysis – The Bayesian way of flux inference	43
Silk fibroin production in Escherichia coli is limited by a positive feedback loop between metabolic burden and toxicity stress	43
Systematic study of genomic loci in Escherichia coli B and K12 for genomic integration: application in plasmid-free astaxanthin production	43
Consistent biosynthesis of D-glycerate from variable mixed substrates	43
Engineering diverse fatty acid compositions of phospholipids in Escherichia coli	43
Consolidated bioprocessing for bioethanol production by metabolically engineered cellulolytic fungus Myceliophthora thermophila	42
COSMIC-dFBA: A novel multi-scale hybrid framework for bioprocess modeling	42
Auto-inducible synthetic pathway in E. coli enhanced sustainable indigo production from glucose	42
Deep learning for NAD/NADP cofactor prediction and engineering using transformer attention analysis in enzymes	42
Metabolic engineering of Escherichia coli for N-methylserotonin biosynthesis	42
Unlocking lager's flavour palette by metabolic engineering of Saccharomyces pastorianus for enhanced ethyl ester production	42
Reconstruction of arginine deiminase pathway sustains a higher-energy state in mammalian cells	41
Metabolic engineering of microbial pathways for 5-aminolevulinic acid biosynthesis: Recent advances and biotechnological applications	41
Metabolic engineering of commensal bacteria for gut butyrate delivery and dissection of host-microbe interaction	40
Time-resolved, deuterium-based fluxomics uncovers the hierarchy and dynamics of sugar processing by Pseudomonas putida	40
A novel step towards the heterologous biosynthesis of paclitaxel: Characterization of T1βOH taxane hydroxylase	40
Insights into the methanol utilization capacity of Y. lipolytica and improvements through metabolic engineering	38
Functional genomic screening in Komagataella phaffii enabled by high-activity CRISPR-Cas9 library	38
A reactive species reactions module for integration into genome-scale metabolic models for improved insights: Application to cancer	38
Engineering Rhodosporidium toruloides for production of 3-hydroxypropionic acid from lignocellulosic hydrolysate	37
De novo production of 1,3-olein-2-palmitin (OPO) and 1-olein-2-palmitin-3-linolein (OPL) by multiplexed reconstruction of lipid metabolism in yeasts	37
A Pseudomonas taiwanensis malonyl-CoA platform strain for polyketide synthesis	37
Engineering and evolution of the complete Reductive Glycine Pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae for formate and CO2 assimilation	37
Boosting titers of engineered triketide and tetraketide synthases to record levels through T7 promoter tuning	37
A database of over 15,000 strain design publications reveals a conserved set of metabolic engineering targets across microbial hosts and products	36
Corrigendum to “Tandem chemical deconstruction and biological upcycling of poly(ethylene terephthalate) to β-ketoadipic acid by Pseudomonas putida KT2440” (Metab. Eng. 67 (2021) 250–261)	35
Editorial Board	35
Editorial Board	35
Hybrid biological-chemical strategy for converting polyethylene into a recyclable plastic monomer using engineered Corynebacterium glutamicum	34
Selective microbial production of lacto-N-fucopentaose I in Escherichia coli using engineered α-1,2-fucosyltransferases	34
Metabolic engineering of artificially modified transcription factor SmMYB36-VP16 for high-level production of tanshinones and phenolic acids	34
Repurposing plant hormone receptors as chemically-inducible genetic switches for dynamic regulation in yeast	34
Corrigendum to “De novo biosynthesis of the polymethoxylated flavones eupatilin and jaceosidin in Saccharomyces cerevisiae” [Metabol. Eng. 97 (2026), 102502]	33
Co-cultivation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains combines advantages of different metabolic engineering strategies for improved ethanol yield	33
Verazine biosynthesis from simple sugars in engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae	33
Rational engineering to enhance C8-fatty acid biosynthesis in Picosynechococcus sp. PCC 7002	33
Flux optimization using multiple promoters in Halomonas bluephagenesis as a model chassis of the next generation industrial biotechnology	33
Systems metabolic engineering upgrades Corynebacterium glutamicum for selective high-level production of the chiral drug precursor and cell-protective extremolyte L-pipecolic acid	33
Reusable and modular combinatorial libraries for iterative metabolic engineering of Saccharomyces cerevisiae	32
Systems metabolic engineering of Corynebacterium glutamicum eliminates all by-products for selective and high-yield production of the platform chemical 5-aminovalerate	32
Targeting cofactors regeneration in methylation and hydroxylation for high level production of Ferulic acid	32
Self-controlled in silico gene knockdown strategies to enhance the sustainable production of heterologous terpenoid by Saccharomyces cerevisiae	32
Electrical-biological hybrid system for carbon efficient isobutanol production	32
Ectoine hyperproduction by engineered Halomonas bluephagenesis	31

Evaluation of strategies to narrow the product chain-length distribution of microbially synthesized free fatty acids	31
Stress-driven dynamic regulation of multiple genes to reduce accumulation of toxic aldehydes	31
Engineering of insect juvenile hormone III biosynthesis in the plant Nicotiana benthamiana	31
High-yield production of FK228 and new derivatives in a Burkholderia chassis	31
Developing a Bacillus licheniformis platform for de novo production of γ-aminobutyric acid and other glutamate-derived chemicals	30
Editorial Board	30
Systems metabolic engineering of Klebsiella pneumoniae for high-level 1,3-propanediol production	30
Efficient production of natural sunscreens shinorine, porphyra-334, and mycosporine-2-glycine in Saccharomyces cerevisiae	30
Bioprocess optimisation via joint machine learning and metabolic modelling	30
Generation of a Vibrio-based platform for efficient conversion of raffinose through Adaptive Laboratory Evolution on a solid medium	29
Sustainable production of genistin from glycerol by constructing and optimizing Escherichia coli	29
Establishing biosynthetic pathways for the production of nicotinic acid and trigonelline in Escherichia coli	29
Orthogonal quorum sensing circuits enable dynamic regulation in Escherichia coli	29
Omics analyses decoding mechanisms underlying the self-flocculating phenotype of yeast cells and stress tolerance for robust production	29
CRISPRi-microfluidics screening enables genome-scale target identification for high-titer protein production and secretion	29
Biomass accumulation in chondrocyte metabolic modelling: Incorporating extracellular matrix proxies to predict tissue engineering outcomes	29
Fluctuating pH for efficient photomixotrophic succinate production	29
Sustainable production through spatial niche partitioning in engineered light-driven microbial community	29
Adaptive evolution of engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae in favored and unusual chemical environments	28
Metabolic engineering of Acinetobacter baylyi ADP1 for efficient utilization of pentose sugars and production of glutamic acid	27
KETCHUP: Parameterizing of large-scale kinetic models using multiple datasets with different reference states	27
Engineering 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) oxidation in Pseudomonas boosts tolerance and accelerates 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) production	27
Overexpression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ co-activator-1⍺ (PGC-1⍺) in Chinese hamster ovary cells increases oxidative metabolism and IgG productivity	27
High-level and -yield production of L-leucine in engineered Escherichia coli by multistep metabolic engineering	27
Evolution-assisted engineering of E. coli enables growth on formic acid at ambient CO2 via the Serine Threonine Cycle	27
Metabolic engineering of Corynebacterium glutamicum for increased cis, cis-muconate production from plant-derived p-hydroxycinnamates via deregulated pathway flux and increased CoA intermediate availa	27
Minimized antibiotic-free plasmid vector for gene therapy utilizing a new toxin-antitoxin system	27
Establishing heterologous betaxanthin pigment biosynthesis in cyanobacteria	26
Genome mining of tailoring enzymes from biosynthetic gene clusters for synthetic biology: A case study with fungal methyltransferases	26
A tunable metabolic valve for precise growth control and increased product formation in Pseudomonas putida	26
Metabolic engineering of Escherichia coli for high production of 1,5-pentanediol via a cadaverine-derived pathway	26
Engineering of Escherichia coli cytoplasm and periplasm for efficient synthesis of salvianic acid A	26
Editorial Board	26
Rational search of genetic design space for a heterologous terpene metabolic pathway in Streptomyces	26
Unraveling productivity-enhancing genes in Chinese hamster ovary cells via CRISPR activation screening using recombinase-mediated cassette exchange system	26
Single cell oil enriched in ricinoleic acid biosynthesis from glucose via metabolically rewired oleaginous yeast	25
Enzyme engineering for optimizing biosynthesis of 2,4-dihydroxybutyric acid via the synthetic threose-dependent glycolaldehyde assimilation (STEGA) pathway	25
A tRNA Modification-based strategy for Identifying amiNo acid Overproducers (AMINO)	24
Coordinated reprogramming of ATP metabolism strongly enhances adipic acid production in Escherichia coli	24
Laboratory evolution reveals general and specific tolerance mechanisms for commodity chemicals	24
Laboratory evolution of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 for phenylpropanoid production	24
Proteome trade-off between primary and secondary metabolism shapes acid stress induced bacterial exopolysaccharide production	24
Genome-scale and pathway engineering for the sustainable aviation fuel precursor isoprenol production in Pseudomonas putida	24
A dynamic kinetic model captures cell-free metabolism for improved butanol production	24
Efficient production of retinol in Yarrowia lipolytica by increasing stability using antioxidant and detergent extraction	24
Development of an efficient yeast platform for cannabigerolic acid biosynthesis	24
Demonstration and technoeconomic analysis of dodecanol production from acetate using metabolically engineered Escherichia coli	24
Corrigendum to “Microbial production of propionic acid through a novel β-alanine route” [Metabol. Eng. (2026) 219–231 93]	23
AI-based automated construction of high-precision Geobacillus thermoglucosidasius enzyme constraint model	23
Engineering Escherichia coli for the production of saturated archaeal lipids	23
dCas9-mediated dysregulation of gene expression in human induced pluripotent stem cells during primitive streak differentiation	23
Engineered non-canonical reductive TCA pathway drives high-yield succinic acid biosynthesis in Yarrowia lipolytica	23
Thermodynamic limitations of PHB production from formate and fructose in Cupriavidus necator	23
PET-FBA: A lightweight enzyme allocation and thermodynamics-constrained flux analysis approach to explore Escherichia coli metabolic adaptation to intracellular acidification	22
Ribo-seq guided design of enhanced protein secretion in Komagataella phaffii	22
Modulating fatty acid metabolism and composition of CHO cells by feeding high levels of fatty acids complexed using methyl-β-cyclodextrin	22
Expression of the extracellular electron transfer pathway of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans enabling Fe(III)-citrate reduction and anodic respiration in Escherichia coli	22
Engineering metabolic flux for the microbial synthesis of aromatic compounds	22
Cyanobacterial phycobilisomes as a platform for the stable production of heterologous enzymes and other proteins	22
Engineering xylose catabolism in the yeast Komagataella phaffii	22
Multi-dimensional experimental and computational exploration of metabolism pinpoints complex probiotic interactions	22
Enabling anaerobic growth of Escherichia coli on glycerol in defined minimal medium using acetate as redox sink	22
Encapsulation of select violacein pathway enzymes in the 1,2-propanediol utilization bacterial microcompartment to divert pathway flux	22
Integrated rational and evolutionary engineering of genome-reduced Pseudomonas putida strains promotes synthetic formate assimilation	21
Engineering ethanologenicity into the extremely thermophilic bacterium Anaerocellum (f. Caldicellulosiriuptor) bescii	21
Advances in metabolic engineering of Vibrio natriegens as an unconventional host for biotechnology	21
Engineered plants for the production of the antioxidants arbutin and gallate	21
Big data and machine learning: Metabolic engineering special issue	21