Gastélum Gabriela, Gómez-Gil Bruno, Olmedo-Álvarez Gabriela, Rocha Jorge
Centro de Investigación en Alimentación y Desarrollo A.C. (CIAD) Unidad Regional Hidalgo. San Agustín Tlaxiaca, Hidalgo, 42162, Mexico.
Developmental Biology Unit and Molecular Systems Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Heidelberg, Germany.
Biofilm. 2025 May 3;9:100284. doi: 10.1016/j.bioflm.2025.100284. eCollection 2025 Jun.
Synthetic communities (SynComs) are valuable tools for addressing microbial community assembly and function, towards their manipulation for clinical, biotechnological and agricultural applications. However, SynCom design is complicated since interactions between microbes cannot be predicted based on their individual properties. Here we aimed to assemble a functionally cohesive SynCom displaying high-order interactions, as a model to study the community-level beneficial functions of seed-endophytic bacteria from native maize landraces including strains from the Bacilli class, and the and genera. We developed a partial combinatorial, bottom-up strategy that was followed by the detection of complex colony architecture as an emergent property in co-cultures. Using this simplified approach, we tested less than 400 co-cultures from a pool of 27 strains, resulting in the assembly the SynCom, which includes NME155, XM7 and sp. GW6. In this community, higher-order interactions result in complex colony architecture, which is considered a proxy of biofilm formation. Additionally, we generated protocols for absolute quantification of each member from a complex mixture. The SynCom will serve as a model to study biofilm formation in community settings, and will aid in the study of the molecular and ecological basis mediating maize fertility.
合成群落（SynComs）是用于研究微生物群落组装和功能的重要工具，可用于对其进行操控以应用于临床、生物技术和农业领域。然而，由于无法根据微生物的个体特性预测它们之间的相互作用，SynCom的设计很复杂。在这里，我们旨在构建一个具有功能凝聚力的SynCom，展示高阶相互作用，作为研究来自本地玉米地方品种的种子内生细菌群落水平有益功能的模型，这些细菌包括芽孢杆菌属以及 属和 属的菌株。我们开发了一种部分组合的自下而上策略，随后检测复杂的菌落结构，将其作为共培养中的一种涌现特性。使用这种简化方法，我们从27个菌株库中测试了不到400种共培养物，从而构建了SynCom，其中包括NME155、XM7和GW6菌株。在这个群落中，高阶相互作用导致复杂的菌落结构，这被认为是生物膜形成的一个指标。此外，我们生成了从复杂混合物中对每个成员进行绝对定量的方案。该SynCom将作为研究群落环境中生物膜形成的模型，并将有助于研究介导玉米育性的分子和生态基础。
