Jourdain Lisa, Gu Wenyu
MICROBE laboratory, Institute of Environmental Engineering, School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Appl Environ Microbiol. 2025 Jun 18;91(6):e0040425. doi: 10.1128/aem.00404-25. Epub 2025 May 16.
Synthetic microbial communities (SynComs) are powerful tools for investigating microbial interactions and community assembly by focusing on minimal yet functionally representative members. Here, we will highlight key principles for designing SynComs, specifically emphasizing the anaerobic digestion (AD) microbiome for waste treatment and upcycling. The AD process has traditionally been used to reduce organic waste volume while producing biogas as a renewable energy source. Its microbiome features well-defined trophic layers and metabolic groups. There has been growing interest in repurposing the AD process to produce value-added products and chemical precursors, contributing to sustainable waste management and the goals of a circular economy. Optimizing the AD process requires a better understanding of microbial interactions and the influence of both biotic and abiotic parameters, where SynComs offer great promise. Focusing on AD microbiomes, we review the principles of SynComs' design, including keystone taxa and function, cross-feeding interactions, and metabolic redundancy, as well as how modeling approaches could guide SynComs design. Furthermore, we address practical considerations for working with AD SynComs and examine constructed SynComs designed for anaerobic waste digestion. Finally, we discuss the challenges associated with designing and applying SynComs to enhance our understanding of the AD process. This review aims to explore the use of synthetic communities in studying anaerobic digestion and highlights their potential for developing innovative biotechnological processes.
合成微生物群落（SynComs）是通过聚焦最少但功能具有代表性的成员来研究微生物相互作用和群落组装的强大工具。在此，我们将重点介绍设计SynComs的关键原则，特别强调用于废物处理和升级回收的厌氧消化（AD）微生物组。传统上，AD工艺用于减少有机废物量，同时产生沼气作为可再生能源。其微生物组具有明确的营养层和代谢组。人们越来越有兴趣将AD工艺用于生产增值产品和化学前体，以促进可持续废物管理和实现循环经济目标。优化AD工艺需要更好地理解微生物相互作用以及生物和非生物参数的影响，而SynComs具有很大潜力。聚焦于AD微生物组，我们回顾了SynComs设计的原则，包括关键类群和功能、交叉喂养相互作用以及代谢冗余，以及建模方法如何指导SynComs设计。此外，我们讨论了使用AD SynComs的实际考虑因素，并研究了为厌氧废物消化设计的构建SynComs。最后，我们讨论了设计和应用SynComs以增强我们对AD过程理解所面临的挑战。本综述旨在探索合成群落用于研究厌氧消化的用途，并突出其在开发创新生物技术过程方面的潜力。
