[Progress in chemicals production by microbial consortia].

Using cheap biomass resources is a hotspot of research on industrial biotechnology. It is difficult for traditional fermentations with single strain to treat so complex components and more impurities, which becomes the key problem in industrialization. In this review, some existing industrial bioprocesses involving microbial consortia were described. Comparison of 1,3-propanediol production by microbial consortia and pure cultures were then introduced and the relationship between cells in microbial consortia were summarized. Finally, the perspective was also addressed to design and apply microbial consortia in the future.