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Co-culturing microbial consortia: approaches for applications in biomanufacturing and bioprocessing

Rahul Kapoore Orcid Logo, Gloria Padmaperuma, Supattra Maneein, Seetharaman Vaidyanathan

Critical Reviews in Biotechnology, Volume: 42 (2022), Issue: 1, Pages: 1 - 27

Swansea University Author: Rahul Kapoore Orcid Logo

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Abstract

The application of microbial co-cultures is now recognized in the fields of biotechnology, ecology, and medicine. Understanding the biological interactions that govern the association of microorganisms would shape the way in which artificial/synthetic co-cultures or consortia are developed. The abil...

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Published in: Critical Reviews in Biotechnology
ISSN: 0738-8551 1549-7801
Published: Informa UK Limited 2021
Online Access: Check full text

URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa56889
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Abstract: The application of microbial co-cultures is now recognized in the fields of biotechnology, ecology, and medicine. Understanding the biological interactions that govern the association of microorganisms would shape the way in which artificial/synthetic co-cultures or consortia are developed. The ability to accurately predict and control cell-to-cell interactions fully would be a significant enabler in synthetic biology. Co-culturing method development holds the key to strategically engineer environments in which the co-cultured microorganism can be monitored. Various approaches have been employed which aim to emulate the natural environment and gain access to the untapped natural resources emerging from cross-talk between partners. Amongst these methods are the use of a communal liquid medium for growth, use of a solid–liquid interface, membrane separation, spatial separation, and use of microfluidics systems. Maximizing the information content of interactions monitored is one of the major challenges that needs to be addressed by these designs. This review critically evaluates the significance and drawbacks of the co-culturing approaches used to this day in biotechnological applications, relevant to biomanufacturing. It is recommended that experimental results for a co-cultured species should be validated with different co-culture approaches due to variations in interactions that could exist as a result of the culturing method selected.
Keywords: Co-culturing techniques; microbial consortia; infochemicals; metabolites; metabolomics; encapsulation; membrane separation; spatial separation; microfluidics; biofilms
College: Faculty of Science and Engineering
Issue: 1
Start Page: 1
End Page: 27