Engineering division of labor in microbial consortia for bioprocessing

As engineering goals in microbial bioprocessing become increasingly complex, functional programmability in single strains is often limited due to finite cellular resources and space, as well as incompatibilities among individual pathway components. Microbial division of labor (DOL) through synthetic consortia offers an alternative strategy for bioprocessing by dividing and distributing target functions among individual members of microbial communities. In doing so, DOL can alleviate intrinsic limitations such as metabolic burden and pathway interference, while also facilitating system organization via modular design, optimization, and extension. Here, we highlight recent advances in the use of DOL in synthetic microbial consortia for bioprocessing by examining five enabling utilities, including alleviating metabolic burden, reducing pathway interference, facilitating complex feedstock utilization, enabling modular design, and improving system tunability. We also synthesize the functional roles of DOL from an organizational perspective and elucidate how this view can further the design of microbial DOL for future biomanufacturing.