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Engineering microbial communities using thermodynamic principles and electrical interfaces.

Christian Zerfaß1, Jing Chen2, Orkun S Soyer1

  • 1Warwick Integrative Synthetic Biology Center (WISB), University of Warwick, United Kingdom; School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, United Kingdom.

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Engineering microbial communities requires a holistic approach. Focusing on environmental conditions, rather than just species, can create stable, predictable microbial ecosystems.

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Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Ecology
  • Systems Biology

Background:

  • Microbial communities are complex systems with intricate species-species interactions.
  • Understanding ecological and evolutionary dynamics (eco-evo feedbacks) is crucial for microbial community engineering.
  • Current engineering approaches targeting specific species have transient effects due to inherent community resilience.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To propose a novel, holistic approach for engineering microbial communities.
  • To investigate the role of thermodynamics and redox biochemistry in microbial community stability.
  • To develop methods for creating ecologically and evolutionarily stable microbial end-states.

Main Methods:

  • Developing a thermodynamic framework for microbial growth and community dynamics.
  • Analyzing microbial redox biochemistry to identify key environmental control points.
  • Utilizing electrodes as controllable redox agents for environmental enforcement.

Main Results:

  • Predicting that species-specific interventions are transient due to species-environment and eco-evo feedbacks.
  • Proposing that enforcing environmental conditions creates thermodynamic bounds for stable community adaptation.
  • Demonstrating the potential for electrodes to provide spatiotemporal control over microbial redox environments.

Conclusions:

  • A holistic, thermodynamics-based approach is necessary for stable microbial community engineering.
  • Environmental control, particularly through redox biochemistry, offers a powerful strategy for predictable community outcomes.
  • This approach can lead to the creation of robust, self-sustaining microbial communities mimicking natural states.