Abstract
Kombucha, a fermented tea beverage with an acidic and effervescent taste, is composed of a multispecies microbial ecosystem with complex interactions that are characterized by both cooperation and conflict. In kombucha, a complex community of bacteria and yeast initiates the fermentation of a starter tea (usually black or green tea with sugar), producing a biofilm that covers the liquid over several weeks. This happens through several fermentative phases that are characterized by cooperation and competition among the microbes within the kombucha solution. Yeast produce invertase as a public good that enables both yeast and bacteria to metabolize sugars. Bacteria produce a surface biofilm which may act as a public good providing protection from invaders, storage for resources, and greater access to oxygen for microbes embedded within it. The ethanol and acid produced during the fermentative process (by yeast and bacteria, respectively) may also help to protect the system from invasion by microbial competitors from the environment. Thus, kombucha can serve as a model system for addressing important questions about the evolution of cooperation and conflict in diverse multispecies systems. Further, it has the potential to be artificially selected to specialize it for particular human uses, including the development of antimicrobial ecosystems and novel materials. Finally, kombucha is easily-propagated, non-toxic, and inexpensive, making it an excellent system for scientific inquiry and citizen science.
Highlights
Kombucha is a traditional tea beverage fermented by a symbiotic community of acetic acid bacteria (AAB) (Acetobacteraceae) and osmophilic yeast (De Filippis et al, 2018)
One of the more striking aspects of the system is the floating cellulose pellicle that forms in tandem with fermentation; this biofilm is produced by the bacteria and encapsulates a microbial community within it (Marsh et al, 2014)
The kefir system appears to be characterized by cooperation as well since yeast provide the bacteria with growth-promoting compounds during the early stages of fermentation, and the resulting bacterial products can be exploited as a source of energy for the yeast (Loretan et al, 1998; Viljoen, 2001)
Summary
Kombucha is a traditional tea beverage fermented by a symbiotic community of acetic acid bacteria (AAB) (Acetobacteraceae) and osmophilic yeast (De Filippis et al, 2018). The microbial profiles of kombucha seem to vary partly based on geographical origin (Mayser et al, 1995; Marsh et al, 2014), and the composition of the kombucha changes over time as it progresses through fermentation (Marsh et al, 2014) This process involves the enzymatic cleavage of sucrose and the subsequent processing of its monomer components into ethanol, acids, cellulose, and carbon dioxide (Jayabalan et al, 2014; Chakravorty et al, 2016). We describe the potential uses of kombucha as a model system for studying cooperative and competitive interactions, and we discuss the potential human uses of kombucha and kombucha-generated biofilms for nutrition, human health and industrial applications
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