Abstract
Microorganisms are the great sources of Natural Products (NPs); these are imperative to their survival apart from conferring competitiveness amongst each other within their environmental niches. Primary and secondary metabolites are the two major classes of NPs that help in cell development, where antimicrobial activity is closely linked with secondary metabolites. To capitalize on the effects of secondary metabolites, co-culture methods have been often used to develop an artificial microbial community that promotes the action of these metabolites. Different analytical techniques will subsequently be employed based on the metabolite specificity and sensitivity to further enhance the metabolite induction. Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS) and Gas Chromatography (GC)-MS are commonly used for metabolite separation while Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and Mass Spectrometry (MS) have been used as tools to elucidate the structure of compounds. This review intends to discuss current systems in use for co-culture in addition to its advantages, with discourse into the investigation of specific techniques in use for the detailed study of secondary metabolites. Further advancements and focus on co-culture technologies are required to fully realize the massive potential in synthetic biological systems.
Highlights
Co-culture systems are central to the progression of synthetic biology and are one of the best methods for the production of bioactive secondary metabolites
The present review mainly aims to provide a discourse about the currently used systems for co-cultures including induction and the technologies employed for the separation and structural elucidation of secondary metabolites
In a petri dish system, 4 ml of Lysogeny Broth (LB) soft agar is poured onto a petri dish with a hard LB agar base and subsequently, bacteria are grown on the surface of it. 15μl of the pure culture is placed in a 31-point hexagonal lattice to initialize the plate
Summary
Co-culture systems are central to the progression of synthetic biology and are one of the best methods for the production of bioactive secondary metabolites. To observe the natural interactions between microorganisms, the co-culture method is widely used to monitor the action and effect of these secondary metabolites towards their opponents. Coculture stimulates specific biosynthetic pathways that are triggered when cultures are grown together, mainly related to cellular defenses This allows for a fundamental understanding and documentation of cell-cell and cell-host interactions. In the study of lung tissue remodeling, new therapies for various lung diseases require the development of an in vitro lung model Such a model is the co-culture of multiple types of cells (such as fibroblasts, epithelial cells, and endothelial cells). Co-culturing activates genes which are normally not expressed under standard laboratory conditions and are crucial in identifying the secondary metabolites of bacteria, fungi and Actinobacteria [12]. The present review mainly aims to provide a discourse about the currently used systems for co-cultures including induction and the technologies employed for the separation and structural elucidation of secondary metabolites
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