Syntrophic exchange in synthetic microbial communities

Metabolic crossfeeding is an important process that can broadly shape microbial communities. However, little is known about specific crossfeeding principles that drive the formation and maintenance of individuals within a mixed population. Here, we devised a series of synthetic syntrophic communities to probe the complex interactions underlying metabolic exchange of amino acids. We experimentally analyzed multimember, multidimensional communities of Escherichia coli of increasing sophistication to assess the outcomes of synergistic crossfeeding. We find that biosynthetically costly amino acids including methionine, lysine, isoleucine, arginine, and aromatics, tend to promote stronger cooperative interactions…

• NS
  National Science Foundation

  Award: DE-FG02-02ER63445
• HH
  Howard Hughes Medical Institute
• UD
  U.S. Department of Energy

  Awards: FG02-02ER63445, DE-FG02-02ER63445, SA5283-11210, DE-FG02-, Grant DE-FG02-02ER63445, DE-FG02
• NI
  National Institutes of Health

  Awards: 1DP5OD009172-01, SA5283-11210, 1DP5OD009172, DE-FG02-02ER63445
• CI
  Canadian Institutes of Health Research