Lignin-cellulose artificial cell wall enables single-cell encapsulation and improves resistance in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Inspired by the protective and structural role of plant cell walls, we developed a synthetic cell wall using cationic lignin and carboxymethyl cellulose to encapsulate Saccharomyces cerevisiae at the single-cell level. This artificial cell wall enhances S. cerevisiae 's fermentation efficiency and improves glucose uptake under extreme environmental conditions. The single-cell artificial cell wall encapsulation markedly improved the metabolic efficiency of S. cerevisiae without substantially impeding its normal growth and reproductive capacity. Notably, the encapsulated S. cerevisiae demonstrated superior cell proliferation over non-encapsulated cell under NaCl stress (P < 0.01). The tolerance of S. cerevisiae to the low temperature at 4 ℃ increased by 14.48%(P < 0.01) respectively after encapsulation of the artificial cell wall. Moreover, the lignin-cellulose artificial cell wall represents a novel strategy to enhance both fermentative capacity and environmental stress tolerance in S. cerevisiae , demonstrating significant potential for industrial-scale applications.