[Weekly news] KAIST researchers make breakthrough in textile manufacturing

Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) announced on Nov. 19 that its team has developed the world’s first modular co-culture platform capable of producing rainbow-colored bacterial cellulose in a single step.

The ivory tower noted that the feat of the team, led by Prof. Lee Sang-yup, marked a major milestone for sustainable textile manufacturing. 

The researchers combined an engineered Komagataeibacter xylinus strain, which specializes in bacterial cellulose production, with redesigned Escherichia coli strains capable of overproducing natural pigments. 

By growing these microbes together in a coordinated “one-pot” system, the team achieved in situ coloration of cellulose without any chemical dyeing, opening new possibilities for eco-friendly materials.

Bacterial cellulose is already recognized as a biodegradable, high-purity, high-strength alternative to petroleum-based fabrics, but its naturally white appearance has restricted its use in applications demanding vibrant colors. 

Traditional dyeing relies heavily on petroleum-derived pigments and often involves toxic reagents and resource-intensive processing. 

To address these challenges, KAIST researchers integrated systems metabolic engineering with co-culture fermentation to simultaneously produce cellulose and natural pigments, according to the university.

A key technical advancement of this research lies in overcoming the metabolic stress caused by intracellular pigment accumulation in E. coli, which typically reduces production efficiency, KAIST said.

The related study, titled “One-pot production of colored bacterial cellulose,” was published in Trends in Biotechnology early this month.