The sum is greater than the parts: exploiting microbial communities to achieve complex functions

Livia S Zaramela; Oriane Moyne; Manish Kumar; Cristal Zuniga; Juan D Tibocha-Bonilla; Karsten Zengler

doi:10.1016/j.copbio.2021.01.013

The sum is greater than the parts: exploiting microbial communities to achieve complex functions

Curr Opin Biotechnol. 2021 Feb:67:149-157. doi: 10.1016/j.copbio.2021.01.013. Epub 2021 Feb 6.

Authors

Livia S Zaramela¹, Oriane Moyne¹, Manish Kumar¹, Cristal Zuniga¹, Juan D Tibocha-Bonilla², Karsten Zengler³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0760, USA.
² Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0760, USA; Bioinformatics and Systems Biology Graduate Program, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0760, USA.
³ Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0760, USA; Center for Microbiome Innovation, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0403, USA; Department of Bioengineering, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0412, USA. Electronic address: kzengler@ucsd.edu.

PMID: 33561703
DOI: 10.1016/j.copbio.2021.01.013

Abstract

Multi-species microbial communities are ubiquitous in nature. The widespread prevalence of these communities is due to highly elaborated interactions among their members thereby accomplishing metabolic functions that are unattainable by individual members alone. Harnessing these communal capabilities is an emerging field in biotechnology. The rational intervention of microbial communities for the purpose of improved function has been facilitated in part by developments in multi-omics approaches, synthetic biology, and computational methods. Recent studies have demonstrated the benefits of rational interventions to human and animal health as well as agricultural productivity. Emergent technologies, such as in situ modification of complex microbial community and community metabolic modeling, represent an avenue to engineer sustainable microbial communities. In this opinion, we review relevant computational and experimental approaches to study and engineer microbial communities and discuss their potential for biotechnological applications.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
Review

MeSH terms

Animals
Biotechnology
Humans
Microbial Consortia*
Microbial Interactions
Microbiota*
Synthetic Biology