Artificial microbial consortia for bioproduction processes

• Published in: Engineering in life sciences Vol. 23; no. 1; pp. e2100152 - n/a
• Main Authors: Mittermeier, Fabian, Bäumler, Miriam, Arulrajah, Prasika, García Lima, José de Jesús, Hauke, Sebastian, Stock, Anna, Weuster‐Botz, Dirk
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.01.2023; John Wiley and Sons Inc; Wiley-VCH
• Subjects: artificial consortia; Automation; Biofuels; bioproduction processes; Biotechnology; Carbon dioxide; cell‐to‐cell interactions; Competition; Complexity; Consortia; co‐cultivation; Design; E coli; Enzymes; Flow cytometry; Lignocellulose; Lipids; Metabolism; Metabolites; Microorganisms; Mutualism; Photosynthesis; Population dynamics; Review; Substrates; cell‐to‐cell interactions; co‐cultivation; bioproduction processes; artificial consortia
• ISSN: 1618-0240; 1618-2863
• DOI: 10.1002/elsc.202100152

The application of artificial microbial consortia for biotechnological production processes is an emerging field in research as it offers great potential for the improvement of established as well as the development of novel processes. In this review, we summarize recent highlights in the usage of various microbial consortia for the production of, for example, platform chemicals, biofuels, or pharmaceutical compounds. It aims to demonstrate the great potential of co‐cultures by employing different organisms and interaction mechanisms and exploiting their respective advantages. Bacteria and yeasts often offer a broad spectrum of possible products, fungi enable the utilization of complex lignocellulosic substrates via enzyme secretion and hydrolysis, and microalgae can feature their abilities to fixate CO2 through photosynthesis for other organisms as well as to form lipids as potential fuelstocks. However, the complexity of interactions between microbes require methods for observing population dynamics within the process and modern approaches such as modeling or automation for process development. After shortly discussing these interaction mechanisms, we aim to present a broad variety of successfully established co‐culture processes to display the potential of artificial microbial consortia for the production of biotechnological products.