A two-member synthetic bacterial coculture pairing Microbacterium sp. BR1 with Terrabacter sp. 2APm3/DSMZ 28514 for sulfadiazine degradation. Xue et al. 2026 traced 13C,15N-labeled sulfadiazine through the coculture and showed a sequential commensal pathway in which Microbacterium sp. BR1 cleaves sulfadiazine to release 2-aminopyrimidine and Terrabacter assimilates and degrades the 2-aminopyrimidine intermediate that accumulated in Microbacterium monoculture.
Taxonomy
| Taxon | Ontology ID | Functional Roles | Abundance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microbacterium sp. BR1 | NCBITaxon:1070896 · TaxonMech · TraitMech |
PRIMARY_DEGRADER
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N/A |
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| Terrabacter sp. 2APm3 | NCBITaxon:1472881 · TaxonMech · TraitMech |
CROSS_FEEDER
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N/A |
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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.
Microbacterium 2-Aminopyrimidine Release
CROSS_FEEDINGMicrobacterium sp. BR1 transforms sulfadiazine and releases 2-aminopyrimidine (2-AP), which accumulates in its axenic culture. This supplies the intermediate used by Terrabacter in coculture. The complementary cultures, chemical time course and recipient isotope signal support sequential cross-feeding rather than merely co-occurring degradation.
Source Taxon: Microbacterium sp. BR1
Target Taxon: Terrabacter sp. 2APm3
Metabolites: 2-aminopyrimidine (CHEBI:38618 · MediaIngredientMech · CMMMech)
Biological Processes:
- biological process involved in interspecies interaction between organisms (GO:0044419 · PathwayMech)
Microbacterium cleavage supplies sulfadiazine-derived 2-AP to Terrabacter, enabling recipient carbon assimilation. Terrabacter alone did not remove parent sulfadiazine; the coculture-specific recipient Raman shift and axenic 2-AP accumulation support this causal sequence.
Evidence
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PMID:42598292 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)"fragment is released from sulfadiazine by Microbacterium BR1"
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PMID:42598292 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)"Microbacterium led to the entire degradation of sulfadiazine with concomitant accumulation of 2-AP"
Terrabacter 2-Aminopyrimidine Assimilation
COMMENSALISMTerrabacter assimilates carbon from Microbacterium-released 2-AP in coculture. Its phenylalanine Raman peak shifted from about 1000 to 988 cm-1 with the pyrimidine-labeled substrate, supporting 13C incorporation; this signal does not independently establish 15N assimilation. Detectably labeled Terrabacter fractions were 42.8 +/- 1.8% on day 2 and 45.9 +/- 3.2% on day 4, so activity is heterogeneous and subthreshold activity is not excluded. Recipient cell counts recovered between days 2 and 4 after an initial decline, not uninterrupted growth of both partners.
Source Taxon: Microbacterium sp. BR1
Target Taxon: Terrabacter sp. 2APm3
Metabolites: 2-aminopyrimidine (CHEBI:38618 · MediaIngredientMech · CMMMech)
Biological Processes:
- biological process involved in interspecies interaction between organisms (GO:0044419 · PathwayMech)
Terrabacter utilization removes the 2-AP intermediate that persists in Microbacterium axenic cultures, allowing the coculture endpoint to lack detectable 2-AP. This complements parent transformation but does not accelerate it: parent sulfadiazine disappeared by day 2 in Microbacterium alone and day 4 in coculture.
Evidence
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PMID:42598292 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)"subsequently utilized by Terrabacter"
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PMID:42598292 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)"Terrabacter assimilated carbon derived from 13C,15N-labeled 2-AP"
Coculture Sulfadiazine Degradation
COMMENSALISMWith 1 mM supplied sulfadiazine, the coculture showed complete parent disappearance by day 4 and no detectable 2-AP at sampled days 0, 2 and 4. Microbacterium alone removed parent by day 2 while accumulating about 1 mM 2-AP; Terrabacter alone did not remove parent. Preserve the positive complementary degradation endpoint without claiming faster parent removal, continuous absence of any intermediate pool, or quantitative mineralization from a closed carbon balance.
Participating Taxa: Microbacterium sp. BR1, Terrabacter sp. 2APm3
Metabolites: sulfadiazine (CHEBI:9328 · MediaIngredientMech · CMMMech), 2-aminopyrimidine (CHEBI:38618 · MediaIngredientMech · CMMMech)
Evidence
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PMID:42598292 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)"The consortium degraded labeled sulfadiazine without any accumulation of 2-aminopyrimidine"
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PMID:42598292 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)"No traces of 2-AP were detected in cocultures at all sampling times"
Knowledge gaps & discussions (2)
KNOWLEDGE_GAP OPEN Which Brunner MSM salts, vitamins, and supplement concentrations were present in the sulfadiazine isotope-tracing coculture medium?
The open article body identifies MSM Brunner plus vitamins and labeled sulfadiazine as the isotope-tracing coculture medium, but places full materials and methods details in supporting information.
Attaches to: growth_media#sulfadiazine isotope-tracing coculture medium
1 evidence item(s)
Supplementary experimental procedures: synthesis of 13C,15N-labeled sulfadiazine
Indicates that additional procedure details were separated into supporting information rather than fully reproduced in the article body.
KNOWLEDGE_GAP OPEN What nitrogen incorporation and donor benefit accompany the demonstrated carbon cross-feeding?
Retain all three nodes and both supported arrows. Dual-labeled substrate does not make the observed phenylalanine Raman shift an independent 15N readout. Partial recipient labeling, initial population decline and subsequent Terrabacter recovery bound the growth claim. Parent disappearance is slower in coculture than BR1 alone, whereas 2-AP removal is the complementary benefit. The paper's proposed donor protection from 2-AP is not a selectively tested feedback mechanism, so no new return arrow is added. Complete primary main text and Table 1 read; supporting information/raw spectra not audited. #1611 repairs graph interpretation; #1612 retains axenic-label wording and culture-stock/medium follow-up. Preserve the prior #1196 coculture-label fix and #1195 Brunner MSM discussion.
Attaches to: ecological_interactions#Microbacterium 2-Aminopyrimidine Release, ecological_interactions#Terrabacter 2-Aminopyrimidine Assimilation, ecological_interactions#Coculture Sulfadiazine Degradation
External Resources
| Name | Repository | Resource ID |
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Primary article - Microbacterium-Terrabacter sulfadiazine cross-feeding coculture
Environmental Science & Technology Letters article reporting stable-isotope tracing and Raman microscopy of sulfadiazine-derived cross-feeding by a Microbacterium sp. BR1 and Terrabacter sp. 2APm3 coculture. |
OTHER | doi:10.1021/acs.estlett.6c00474 |
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Environmental Factors
| Factor | Value | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| sulfadiazine isotope-tracing substrate | 13C,15N-diazine-labeled sulfadiazine | 1 mM |
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Growth Media
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