News & ViewsPublished: 27 February 2025Applied microbiologyArslan Sarwar1 &Eun Yeol Lee ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-6974-32621 Nature Microbiology (2025)Cite this articleMetrics detailsSubjectsApplied microbiologyMetabolic engineeringSynthetic one-carbon assimilation pathways can offer faster and more efficient alternatives to their native counterparts, enabling enhanced bio-based production of fuels and chemicals from one-carbon substrates.This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institutionAccess optionsAccess Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journalsGet Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription24,99 € / 30 dayscancel any timeLearn moreSubscribe to this journalReceive 12 digital issues and online access to articles118,99 € per yearonly 9,92 € per issueLearn moreBuy this articlePurchase on SpringerLinkInstant access to full article PDFBuy nowPrices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkoutFig. 1: Overview of strain engineering for formate and CO2 assimilation.ReferencesPham, D. N., Nguyen, A. D. & Lee, E. Y. Chem. Eng. J. 449, 137769 (2022).Article CAS Google Scholar Claassens, N. J., Cotton, C. A. R., Kopljar, D. & Bar-Even, A. Nat. Catal. 2, 437–447 (2019).Article CAS Google Scholar Yishai, O., Lindner, S. N., Gonzalez de la Cruz, J., Tenenboim, H. & Bar-Even, A. Curr. Opin. Chem. Biol. 35, 1–9 (2016).Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar Cotton, C. A. R., Claassens, N. J., Benito-Vaquerizo, S. & Bar-Even, A. Curr. Opin. Biotechnol. 62, 168–180 (2020).Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar Claassens, N. J. Trends Biotechnol. 39, 327–329 (2021).Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar Sánchez-Andrea, I. et al. Nat. Commun. 11, 5090 (2020).Article PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar Kim, S. et al. Nat. Chem. Biol. 16, 538–545 (2020).Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar Claassens, N. J. et al. Metab. Eng. 62, 30–41 (2020).Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar Dronsella, B. et al. Nat. Microbiol. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-025-01941-9 (2025).Article Google Scholar Volodina, E., Raberg, M. & Steinbüchel, A. Crit. Rev. Biotechnol. 36, 978–991 (2016).Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar Download referencesAuthor informationAuthors and AffiliationsDepartment of Chemical Engineering (BK21 FOUR Integrated Engineering), Kyung Hee University, Yongin-si, Republic of KoreaArslan Sarwar & Eun Yeol LeeAuthorsArslan SarwarView author publicationsYou can also search for this author in PubMed Google ScholarEun Yeol LeeView author publicationsYou can also search for this author in PubMed Google ScholarCorresponding authorCorrespondence to Eun Yeol Lee.Ethics declarationsCompeting interestsThe authors declare no competing interests.Rights and permissionsReprints and permissionsAbout this article