MOE Laboratory of Biosystem Homeostasis and Protection, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
Cancer Center, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
mSystems. 2024 Sep 17;9(9):e0088424. doi: 10.1128/msystems.00884-24. Epub 2024 Aug 27.
Metabolic exchange plays a crucial role in shaping microbial community interactions and functions, including the exchange of small molecules such as cofactors. Cofactors are fundamental to enzyme catalytic activities; however, the role of cofactors in microbial stress tolerance is unclear. Here, we constructed a synergistic consortium containing two strains that could efficiently mineralize di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate under hyperosmotic stress. Integration of transcriptomic analysis, metabolic profiling, and a genome-scale metabolic model (GEM) facilitated the discovery of the potential mechanism of microbial interactions. Multi-omics analysis revealed that the vitamin B-dependent methionine-folate cycle could be a key pathway for enhancing the hyperosmotic stress tolerance of synergistic consortium. Further GEM simulations revealed interspecies exchange of S-adenosyl-L-methionine and riboflavin, cofactors needed for vitamin B biosynthesis, which was confirmed by experiments. Overall, we proposed a new mechanism of bacterial hyperosmotic stress tolerance: bacteria might promote the production of vitamin B to enhance biofilm formation, and the species collaborate with each other by exchanging cofactors to improve consortium hyperosmotic stress tolerance. These findings offer new insights into the role of cofactors in microbial interactions and stress tolerance and are potentially exploitable for environmental remediation.
Metabolic interactions (also known as cross-feeding) are thought to be ubiquitous in microbial communities. Cross-feeding is the basis for many positive interactions (e.g., mutualism) and is a primary driver of microbial community assembly. In this study, a combination of multi-omics analysis and metabolic modeling simulation was used to reveal the metabolic interactions of a synthetic consortium under hyperosmotic stress. Interspecies cofactor exchange was found to promote biofilm formation under hyperosmotic stress. This provides a new perspective for understanding the role of metabolic interactions in microbial communities to enhance environmental adaptation, which is significant for improving the efficiency of production activities and environmental bioremediation.
代谢交换在塑造微生物群落相互作用和功能方面起着至关重要的作用，包括小分子如辅助因子的交换。辅助因子是酶催化活性的基础；然而，辅助因子在微生物应激耐受中的作用尚不清楚。在这里，我们构建了一个协同联合体，其中包含两个能够在高渗透压胁迫下有效矿化邻苯二甲酸二（2-乙基己基）酯的菌株。转录组分析、代谢组学分析和基因组尺度代谢模型（GEM）的整合促进了微生物相互作用潜在机制的发现。多组学分析表明，维生素 B 依赖性蛋氨酸-叶酸循环可能是增强协同联合体高渗透压应激耐受的关键途径。进一步的 GEM 模拟揭示了 S-腺苷-L-蛋氨酸和核黄素等维生素 B 生物合成所需辅助因子的种间交换，实验证实了这一点。总的来说，我们提出了一种新的细菌高渗透压应激耐受机制：细菌可能通过促进维生素 B 的产生来增强生物膜的形成，并且通过交换辅助因子来协同作用以提高联合体的高渗透压应激耐受能力。这些发现为辅助因子在微生物相互作用和应激耐受中的作用提供了新的见解，并且可能可用于环境修复。
代谢相互作用（也称为交叉喂养）被认为在微生物群落中普遍存在。交叉喂养是许多正相互作用（例如，互利共生）的基础，也是微生物群落组装的主要驱动力。在这项研究中，使用多组学分析和代谢建模模拟的组合来揭示高渗透压胁迫下合成联合体的代谢相互作用。发现种间辅助因子交换可促进高渗透压胁迫下生物膜的形成。这为理解代谢相互作用在微生物群落中增强环境适应性的作用提供了新的视角，这对于提高生产活动和环境生物修复的效率具有重要意义。
