A three-species anaerobic continuous-culture model community established to study trophic and electron-acceptor interactions relevant to subsurface anaerobic environments. Clostridium cellulolyticum ferments cellobiose, while Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough and Geobacter sulfurreducens depend on fermentation products and use sulfate and fumarate, respectively, as supplied electron acceptors.
Taxonomy
| Taxon | Ontology ID | Functional Roles | Abundance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clostridium cellulolyticum | NCBITaxon:1521 |
PRIMARY_DEGRADER
CROSS_FEEDER
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DOMINANT |
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| Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough | NCBITaxon:882 |
SYNTROPHIC_PARTNER
CROSS_FEEDER
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COMMON |
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| Geobacter sulfurreducens | NCBITaxon:35554 |
SYNTROPHIC_PARTNER
CROSS_FEEDER
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COMMON |
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Ecological Interactions
Cellobiose Fermentation Supports Partner Growth
CROSS_FEEDINGSource Taxon: Clostridium cellulolyticum
Target Taxon: Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough and Geobacter sulfurreducens
Metabolites: cellobiose (CHEBI:17057)
Biological Processes:
- fermentation (GO:0006113)
Evidence
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doi:10.1186/1471-2180-10-149 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)"Cellobiose served as the carbon and energy source for C. cellulolyticum"
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doi:10.1186/1471-2180-10-149 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)"D. vulgaris and G. sulfurreducens derived carbon and energy from the metabolic products"
Sulfate-Linked Dependence of D. vulgaris
SYNTROPHYSource Taxon: Clostridium cellulolyticum
Target Taxon: Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough
Metabolites: sulfate (CHEBI:16189)
Biological Processes:
- sulfate reduction (GO:0019420)
Evidence
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doi:10.1186/1471-2180-10-149 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)"D. vulgaris and G. sulfurreducens derived carbon and energy from the metabolic products"
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doi:10.1186/1471-2180-10-149 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)"provided with sulfate and fumarate respectively as electron acceptors"
Fumarate-Linked Dependence of G. sulfurreducens
CROSS_FEEDINGSource Taxon: Clostridium cellulolyticum
Target Taxon: Geobacter sulfurreducens
Metabolites: fumarate (CHEBI:18012)
Evidence
-
doi:10.1186/1471-2180-10-149 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)"D. vulgaris and G. sulfurreducens derived carbon and energy from the metabolic products"
-
doi:10.1186/1471-2180-10-149 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)"provided with sulfate and fumarate respectively as electron acceptors"
Electron Donor and Acceptor Limitation
NICHE_PARTITIONINGSource Taxon: Clostridium cellulolyticum
Target Taxon: three-species model community
Evidence
-
doi:10.1186/1471-2180-10-149 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)"growth of C. cellulolyticum and D. vulgaris were electron donor limited"
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doi:10.1186/1471-2180-10-149 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)"G. sulfurreducens was electron acceptor limited"
Knowledge gaps & discussions (1)
KNOWLEDGE_GAP OPEN Which exact C. cellulolyticum fermentation products are transferred to D. vulgaris and G. sulfurreducens, and is the electron-acceptor to cross-feeding coupling perturbation-demonstrated rather than only abstract-level implied?
The curated donor-to-partner causal edges rest on the abstract statement that the partners "derived carbon and energy from the metabolic products" of C. cellulolyticum; the primary full text (doi:10.1186/1471-2180-10-149) was not retrievable, so the exact exchanged metabolites and any sulfate/fumarate-removal or inhibitor perturbation evidence remain unresolved. Products reported for a related two-species C. cellulolyticum / G. sulfurreducens fuel-cell system (acetate, ethanol, H2) must NOT be imported here without exact-system verification.
Attaches to: ecological_interactions#Sulfate-Linked Dependence of D. vulgaris, ecological_interactions#Fumarate-Linked Dependence of G. sulfurreducens
1 evidence item(s)
D. vulgaris and G. sulfurreducens derived carbon and energy from the metabolic products
The cross-feeding is stated only at the level of "metabolic products" without naming the exact exchanged compounds — the basis for filing this as a knowledge gap.
External Resources
| Name | Repository | Resource ID |
|---|---|---|
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Exact-system primary publication - ORNL anaerobic three-species model community
Primary open-access publication establishing the C. cellulolyticum, D. vulgaris Hildenborough, and G. sulfurreducens continuous-culture model community. |
OTHER | doi:10.1186/1471-2180-10-149 |
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Same-composition computational publication - OptCom model-community case study
Computational OptCom paper that includes a model-community case study for the same C. cellulolyticum, D. vulgaris Hildenborough, and G. sulfurreducens species composition. |
OTHER | PMID:22319433 |
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Environmental Factors
| Factor | Value | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| Anaerobic continuous-culture operation | continuous culture | N/A |
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| Electron acceptor partitioning | sulfate supplied for D. vulgaris; fumarate supplied for G. sulfurreducens | N/A |
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| Subsurface anaerobic-environment model | trophic and electron-accepting interactions of subsurface anaerobic environments | N/A |
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