Chapter 18 - Engineering Synthetic Microbial Consortia for Consolidated Bioprocessing of Ligonocellulosic Biomass into Valuable Fuels and Chemicals

Abstract

Consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) is considered to be a breakthrough process configuration for cost-effective lignocellulosic biofuel production. In contrast to the conventional single species oriented paradigm, an alternative approach based on synthetic microbial consortia for enabling CBP has recently received fast increasing attention. Inspired in part by natural communities, this approach features the division of required biochemical functions into different consortium members for single-step conversion of lignocellulose to desired products. In this chapter, we review progress to date in engineering such consortia, which include bicultures of saccharification and fermentation specialists, and other synthetic communities. Tools and methods are also emerging to facilitate the development of stable and robust consortia. Latest trends include utilization of design motifs with intrinsic ecological stability (e.g., mutualistic interactions) and usage of “omics” tools to investigate complex interactions between consortium members. While further efforts are needed, we envision that synthetic microbial consortia will become increasingly important.