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Caldibacillus-Clostridium Aerotolerant Cellulose Coculture

Community ID CommunityMech:000179
Ecological State ENGINEERED
Environment aerobic cellulose-fed laboratory coculture — ontology label: laboratory environment
ENVO:01001405 · HabitatMech ↗

A designed two-member thermophilic coculture for aerotolerant cellulose conversion. The community pairs the cellulolytic strict anaerobe Clostridium thermocellum with the noncellulolytic facultative anaerobe Caldibacillus debilis GB1. C. debilis GB1 provides respiratory protection under oxidative conditions, enabling synergistic cellulose utilization and ethanogenic biofuel production under an aerobic atmosphere.

Taxonomy

Taxon Ontology ID Functional Roles Abundance
Clostridium thermocellum — ontology label: Acetivibrio thermocellus NCBITaxon:1515 · TaxonMech · TraitMech
PRIMARY_DEGRADER SECONDARY_FERMENTER
N/A
Caldibacillus debilis GB1 — ontology label: Caldibacillus debilis NCBITaxon:301148 · TaxonMech · TraitMech
CROSS_FEEDER SECONDARY_FERMENTER
N/A

Ecological Interactions

The graph shows only explicitly linked interaction participants. Community members without an asserted participant link are omitted; membership alone does not imply an interaction.

Ecological interaction network for Caldibacillus-Clostridium Aerotolerant Cellulose Coculture Bipartite graph where circles represent taxa and non-circular symbols represent interactions, with distinct shapes and colours for cross-feeding. Rare or untyped interactions share the Other symbol; exact curated types remain in the interaction details.
Taxon
Cross-feeding
Other

Respiratory Protection of C. thermocellum

C. debilis GB1 supports aerobic cellulose utilization by C. thermocellum. Local oxygen depletion is HYPOTHESIZED; bulk oxygen persisted. An unaffected GB1 partner is not established.

Source Taxon: Caldibacillus debilis GB1

Target Taxon: Clostridium thermocellum

Metabolites: dioxygen (CHEBI:15379 · MediaIngredientMech · CMMMech), cellulose (CHEBI:18246 · MediaIngredientMech · CMMMech)

Biological Processes:

Downstream Effects:
→ Aerotolerant Ethanogenic Cellulose Conversion

PARTIAL - respiratory protection permits cellulose fermentation under air; the local oxygen-scavenging mechanism remains inferred, not measured bulk deoxygenation.

Evidence

Aerotolerant Ethanogenic Cellulose Conversion

CROSS_FEEDING

The defined pair converted cellulose with transient aerobic ethanol accumulation: 5.5 mM at 72 h, below detection at 168 h. PARTIAL - GB1 use of released cellobiose and fermentation products is a cross-feeding hypothesis, supported by substrate-use assays but not resolved coculture flux. B4-1 enrichment results are distinct.

Source Taxon: Clostridium thermocellum

Target Taxon: Caldibacillus debilis GB1

Metabolites: cellulose (CHEBI:18246 · MediaIngredientMech · CMMMech), ethanol (CHEBI:16236 · MediaIngredientMech · CMMMech)

Biological Processes:

Evidence

Oxidative Shift Toward Lactate Production

The defined coculture accumulated more lactate under oxidative conditions at 72 h, then less at 168 h. Stress-related production and partner attribution remain proposed; this endpoint is not commensalism.

Metabolites: lactate (CHEBI:24996 · MediaIngredientMech · CMMMech)

Biological Processes:

Evidence

Knowledge gaps & discussions (1)

KNOWLEDGE_GAP OPEN Which local oxygen gradients and partner-resolved transfers explain aerotolerant conversion?

doi:10.1128/AEM.00735-15 supports protection but leaves microenvironment, exchange flux and stress attribution unresolved. Preserve the earlier protection-to-lactate arrow removal. No new mechanism or molecular effector is asserted.

Attaches to: ecological_interactions#Respiratory Protection of C. thermocellum, ecological_interactions#Aerotolerant Ethanogenic Cellulose Conversion, ecological_interactions#Oxidative Shift Toward Lactate Production

External Resources

Name Repository Resource ID
Exact-system primary publication - C. debilis GB1 and C. thermocellum coculture
Primary publication describing the designed aerotolerant cellulose-degrading coculture with C. debilis GB1 and C. thermocellum. 		OTHER doi:10.1128/AEM.00735-15

Environmental Factors

Factor Value Unit
Cellulose substrate cellulose N/A
Aerobic atmosphere oxygen exposure N/A

Growth Media

Cellulose-fed aerotolerant coculture assay

Atmosphere FACULTATIVE_AEROBIC

Composition

Component Concentration Unit CHEBI
cellulose · MediaIngredientMech N/A N/A CHEBI:18246

Preparation notes: The abstract supports cellulose-fed aerotolerant coculture assays; exact medium formulation and temperature details are not asserted in this record.

Evidence

doi:10.1128/AEM.00735-15

"biofuel production from cellulose"

Cross-Mech Suite Links

Explore related entities across the CultureBotAI X-Mech knowledge bases:

HabitatMech: aerobic cellulose-fed laboratory coculture ↗ TaxonMech: Clostridium thermocellum ↗ TraitMech: Clostridium thermocellum ↗ TaxonMech: Caldibacillus debilis GB1 ↗ TraitMech: Caldibacillus debilis GB1 ↗ CultureMech Growth Media ↗ PathwayMech Pathways ↗