Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Nottingham Malaysia, Jalan Broga, 43500 Semenyih, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.
School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University Malaysia, Jalan Sunsuria, Bandar Sunsuria, 43900 Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia.
Biotechnol Adv. 2021 Mar-Apr;47:107684. doi: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2020.107684. Epub 2020 Dec 30.
The coexistence of algae and bacteria in nature dates back to the very early stages when life came into existence. The interaction between algae and bacteria plays an important role in the planet ecology, cycling nutrients, and feeding higher trophic levels, and have been evolving ever since. The emerging concept of algal-bacterial consortia is gaining attention, much towards environmental management and protection. Studies have shown that algal-bacterial synergy does not only promote carbon capture in wastewater bioremediation but also consequently produces biofuels from algal-bacterial biomass. This review has evaluated the optimistic prospects of algal-bacterial consortia in environmental remediation, biorefinery, carbon sequestration as well as its contribution to the production of high-value compounds. In addition, algal-bacterial consortia offer great potential in bloom control, dye removal, agricultural biofertilizers, and bioplastics production. This work also emphasizes the advancement of algal-bacterial biotechnology in environmental management through the incorporation of Industry Revolution 4.0 technologies. The challenges include its pathway to greener industry, competition with other food additive sources, societal acceptance, cost feasibility, environmental trade-off, safety and compatibility. Thus, there is a need for further in-depth research to ensure the environmental sustainability and feasibility of algal-bacterial consortia to meet numerous current and future needs of society in the long run.
藻类和细菌在自然界中的共存可以追溯到生命起源的早期阶段。藻类和细菌之间的相互作用在地球生态系统中起着重要作用，循环营养物质，为更高营养级别的生物提供食物，并且这种相互作用自生命起源以来一直在进化。藻类-细菌共生体的新兴概念越来越受到关注，尤其是在环境管理和保护方面。研究表明，藻类-细菌协同作用不仅促进了废水生物修复中的碳捕获，而且还可以从藻类-细菌生物质中生产生物燃料。本综述评估了藻类-细菌共生体在环境修复、生物炼制、碳封存以及对高价值化合物生产的贡献方面的乐观前景。此外，藻类-细菌共生体在水华控制、染料去除、农业生物肥料和生物塑料生产方面具有巨大的潜力。这项工作还强调了通过整合工业 4.0 技术来推进藻类-细菌生物技术在环境管理中的应用。所面临的挑战包括向更绿色工业的转变、与其他食品添加剂来源的竞争、社会接受度、成本可行性、环境权衡、安全性和兼容性。因此，需要进一步深入研究，以确保藻类-细菌共生体的环境可持续性和可行性，从而满足社会在长期内的众多当前和未来需求。
