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Cellulomonas-Rhodobacter Cellulose Photohydrogen Coculture

Community ID CommunityMech:000265
Ecological State ENGINEERED
Environment anaerobic illuminated laboratory coculture
ENVO:01001405

A defined anaerobic cellulose-to-hydrogen coculture pairing cellulolytic Cellulomonas sp. strain ATCC 21399 with the purple nonsulfur phototroph Rhodopseudomonas capsulata, now classified as Rhodobacter capsulatus. The Cellulomonas partner ferments cellulose to organic acids, while R. capsulata grows photoheterotrophically on those products and evolves molecular hydrogen through nitrogenase. The system is DOE-relevant as an early model for lignocellulosic biohydrogen production by division of labor between cellulose fermentation and phototrophic hydrogen evolution.

Taxonomy

Taxon Ontology ID Functional Roles Abundance
Cellulomonas sp. strain ATCC 21399 NCBITaxon:1707
PRIMARY_DEGRADER CROSS_FEEDER
ABUNDANT
  • PMID:16346269 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "Cellulomonas sp. strain ATCC 21399 is a facultatively anaerobic, cellulose-degrading microorganism"
  • PMID:16346269 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "produces organic acids during cellulose fermentation"
Rhodopseudomonas capsulata NCBITaxon:1061
CROSS_FEEDER PRIMARY_PRODUCER
ABUNDANT
  • PMID:16346269 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "Rhodopseudomonas capsulata cannot utilize cellulose"
  • PMID:16346269 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "grows photoheterotrophically under anaerobic conditions on organic acids or sugars"

Ecological Interactions

Ecological interaction network for Cellulomonas-Rhodobacter Cellulose Photohydrogen Coculture Bipartite graph where circle nodes represent taxa and colored rectangles represent ecological interactions (cross-feeding, mutualism, syntrophy, competition, commensalism).
Taxon
Cross-feeding
Mutualism
Syntrophy
Competition
Commensalism
Niche partitioning
Colonization facilitation
Strain competition
Predation

Cellulose Fermentation to Organic Acid Cross-Feeding

CROSS_FEEDING

Source Taxon: Cellulomonas sp. strain ATCC 21399

Target Taxon: Rhodopseudomonas capsulata

Metabolites: cellulose (CHEBI:18246), acetate (CHEBI:30089)

Biological Processes:

Evidence

  • PMID:16346269 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "produces organic acids during cellulose fermentation"
  • PMID:16346269 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "grows photoheterotrophically under anaerobic conditions on organic acids or sugars"

Nitrogenase-Driven Photohydrogen Evolution

SYNTROPHY

Metabolites: dihydrogen (CHEBI:18276), cellulose (CHEBI:18246)

Biological Processes:

Evidence

  • PMID:16346269 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "photoevolves molecular hydrogen by the nitrogenase system of R. capsulata"
  • PMID:16346269 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "cellulose as the sole carbon source"

Uptake Hydrogenase Loss Increases Hydrogen Yield

NICHE_PARTITIONING

Metabolites: dihydrogen (CHEBI:18276)

Evidence

  • PMID:16346269 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "hydrogenase-negative mutant produced 4.6 to 6.2 mol of H(2) per mol of glucose equivalent"
  • PMID:16346269 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "compared with 1.2 to 4.3 mol for the wild type"

Associated Datasets

Dataset Type Repository Accession
Photoproduction of H2 from cellulose by an anaerobic bacterial coculture
PubMed- and PMC-indexed Applied and Environmental Microbiology study of cellulose-dependent hydrogen production by Cellulomonas sp. ATCC 21399 and R. capsulata cocultures. 		PHENOTYPE OTHER PMID:16346269

Environmental Factors

Factor Value Unit
Cellulose substrate cellulose as sole carbon source N/A
  • PMID:16346269 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "cellulose as the sole carbon source"
Anaerobic photoheterotrophic condition anaerobic phototrophic growth on organic acids or sugars N/A
  • PMID:16346269 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "grows photoheterotrophically under anaerobic conditions on organic acids or sugars"
Uptake hydrogenase genotype wild-type versus uptake-hydrogenase-negative R. capsulata N/A
  • PMID:16346269 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "wild-type R. capsulata or a mutant strain lacking uptake hydrogenase"

Growth Media

Anaerobic cellulose photohydrogen coculture

Atmosphere ANAEROBIC

Composition

Component Concentration Unit CHEBI
Cellulose N/A N/A CHEBI:18246

Preparation notes: Detailed medium salts and illumination parameters are not asserted from the abstract. The curated medium context is anaerobic coculture with cellulose as the sole carbon source.

Evidence

PMID:16346269

"anaerobic coculture of the Cellulomonas strain with wild-type R. capsulata"

PMID:16346269

"cellulose as the sole carbon source"