A synthetic Calvin cycle enables autotrophic growth in yeast

In total eight genes, including genes encoding for RuBisCO and phosphoribulokinase, were integrated into the genome of , while three endogenous genes were deleted to block methanol assimilation. The enzymes necessary for the synthetic CBB cycle were targeted to the peroxisome. Methanol oxidation, which yields NADH, is employed for energy generation defining the lifestyle as chemoorganoautotrophic. This work demonstrates that the lifestyle of an organism can be changed from chemoorganoheterotrophic to chemoorganoautotrophic by metabolic engineering. The resulting strain can grow exponentially and perform multiple cell doublings on CO as sole carbon source with a µ of 0.008 h.