Expanding the frontiers of microbial biosynthesis with synthetic microbial communities

Advances in synthetic biology have extended microbial engineering to programmable microbial communities. Through rational pathway partitioning and well-defined microbial interactions, synthetic microbial communities mitigate limitations in monocultures such as metabolic burden, pathway inhibition, and byproducts accumulation. Featuring division of labor, synthetic microbial communities broaden system metabolic capabilities and enable efficient biosynthesis of complex chemicals, therefore expanding the frontiers of microbial biosynthesis. Here, we review recent progress in synthetic microbial communities. We discuss advantages and functions of synthetic microbial communities and propose a design framework, highlighting population control through microbial interactions. Challenges and future perspectives are addressed as well.