Assembly of functional microbial ecosystems: from molecular circuits to communities

Area of Science:

• Synthetic biology
• Microbial ecology
• Systems biology

Background:

• Microbial communities interact through chemical signals and genetic circuits.
• Synthetic biology approaches are used to engineer microbiomes for various applications.
• Existing research often focuses on isolated aspects like genetic circuits or communication, lacking a unified framework.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically summarize cross-talk and orthogonal regulation modules for assembling functional microbial ecosystems.
• To provide a comprehensive framework for designing and optimizing microbial consortia.
• To promote the development of consortia-based applications.

Main Methods:

• Review of cross-talk communication-based regulations (intra- and inter-species).
• Summary of orthogonal regulations at metabolite, transcription, translation, and post-translation levels.
• Proposal of a design-build-test-learn procedure for microbial ecosystem engineering.

Main Results:

• Diverse cross-talk and orthogonal regulatory modules are identified for de novo assembly.
• A structured design-build-test-learn procedure is proposed for systematic ecosystem engineering.
• Current challenges and future opportunities in microbial ecosystem development are discussed.

Conclusions:

• A comprehensive framework is needed for coordinating microbial ecosystems.
• Synthetic biology offers powerful tools for assembling functional microbial consortia.
• Further research can advance the design and application of engineered microbial ecosystems.