biostudies-literatureUnknown17(1)Na QThe textile dyeing industry has shaped modern aesthetics through vibrant coloration technologies. Indigoid dyes embody this potential but are hindered by the hazardous chemo-synthesis and water-intensive chemo-dyeing processes. While biosynthesis and bio-dyeing efforts offer alternatives, disjointed synthesis-dyeing steps lead to unsustainable water and energy demands, and complex biosynthetic pathways cause low atom economy and inefficiency. Here, we report a one-pot one-step approach that unifies biosynthesis and bio-dyeing of indigoids to drastically reduce water usage in the dyeing process. By combining alcohol dehydrogenase with flavin-containing monooxygenase, we construct an artificial redox-neutral cascade biosynthetic pathway to produce bluish-violet indigoid dyes, which significaNature communications1171https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC12858983biostudies-literatureEngineering artificial biosynthetic pathway enables simultaneous production and in-situ bio-dyeing of indigoids for textiles.PMC12858983Na QZhang ZTan ZZhang XLong LZhi RYing HQi SZhu CfalseEngineering artificial biosynthetic pathway enables simultaneous production and in-situ bio-dyeing of indigoids for textiles.The textile dyeing industry has shaped modern aesthetics through vibrant coloration technologies. Indigoid dyes embody this potential but are hindered by the hazardous chemo-synthesis and water-intensive chemo-dyeing processes. While biosynthesis and bio-dyeing efforts offer alternatives, disjointed synthesis-dyeing steps lead to unsustainable water and energy demands, and complex biosynthetic pathways cause low atom economy and inefficiency. Here, we report a one-pot one-step approach that unifies biosynthesis and bio-dyeing of indigoids to drastically reduce water usage in the dyeing process. By combining alcohol dehydrogenase with flavin-containing monooxygenase, we construct an artificial redox-neutral cascade biosynthetic pathway to produce bluish-violet indigoid dyes, which significa2025-01-01T00:00:00Z2025 Dec2026-06-09T06:55:38.967Z2026-06-09T03:12:12.714ZS-EPMC128589834145387810.1038/s41467-025-67935-7