Department of Chemical Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA.
Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA.
Curr Opin Microbiol. 2021 Dec;64:100-108. doi: 10.1016/j.mib.2021.09.008. Epub 2021 Oct 23.
Microbial consortia efficiently degrade complex biopolymers found in the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW). Through enzyme production and division of labor during anaerobic digestion, microbial communities break down recalcitrant polymers and make fermentation products, including methane. However, microbial communities remain underutilized for waste degradation as it remains difficult to characterize and predict microbial interactions during waste breakdown, especially as cultivation conditions change drastically throughout anaerobic digestion. This review discusses recent progress and opportunities in cultivating natural and engineered consortia for OFMSW hydrolysis, including how recalcitrant substrates are degraded by enzymes as well as the critical factors that govern microbial interactions and culture stability. Methods to measure substrate degradation are also reviewed, and we demonstrate the need for increased standardization to enable comparisons across different environments.
微生物群落可以有效地降解城市固体废物（MSW）有机部分中发现的复杂生物聚合物。通过在厌氧消化过程中的酶生产和分工，微生物群落分解了难降解的聚合物，并产生了发酵产物，包括甲烷。然而，由于在废物分解过程中仍然难以描述和预测微生物的相互作用，尤其是在厌氧消化过程中培养条件发生巨大变化时，微生物群落仍然没有得到充分利用。本综述讨论了培养天然和工程化菌群用于 MSW 水解的最新进展和机遇，包括酶如何降解难降解的底物以及控制微生物相互作用和培养稳定性的关键因素。还回顾了测量底物降解的方法，并证明需要增加标准化程度，以实现不同环境之间的比较。
