Phormidium Alkaline Consortium

Community ID CommunityMech:000054

Ecological State STABLE

Environment soda lake
ENVO:00000274

A natural cyanobacterial-heterotrophic consortium dominated by Candidatus Phormidium alkaliphilum, isolated from soda lakes. This consortium represents a robust, stable community optimized for carbon sequestration in high-pH environments (pH >11). The community includes 8-12 core members with 29 identified heterotrophic metagenome-assembled genomes spanning Bacteroidota, Alphaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, Verrucomicrobiota, Patescibacteria, and Planctomycetota. The consortium demonstrated exceptional stability with 4 years of crash-free growth in laboratory culture, maintaining biomass productivity of 15.2 g/m²/day. Ecological interactions include carbon transfer from cyanobacteria to heterotrophs, nutrient remineralization, vitamin provision (B12, B1, B7), and functional niche partitioning that enhances community robustness. The consortium enables direct CO2 capture from air at alkaline pH, making it highly relevant for biotechnological carbon sequestration applications. Stable isotope probing with ¹³C-bicarbonate revealed tight coupling of carbon flux from primary production to heterotrophic populations, particularly Wenzhouxiangella species.

Taxonomy

Taxon	Ontology ID	Functional Roles	Abundance
Candidatus Phormidium alkaliphilum	NCBITaxon:1807132	PRIMARY_PRODUCER	DOMINANT
doi:10.3389/fmicb.2022.780346 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO) "The community structure was compared to a previously described consortium of a closely related cyanobacteria, which indicated that the results may be generalized"
Wenzhouxiangella sp.	NCBITaxon:1979961	CROSS_FEEDER SECONDARY_FERMENTER	ABUNDANT
doi:10.3389/fmicb.2022.780346 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO) "tight coupling of carbon transfer from cyanobacteria to the heterotrophic populations"
Bacteroidota members	NCBITaxon:976	PRIMARY_DEGRADER SECONDARY_FERMENTER	COMMON
doi:10.3389/fmicb.2022.780346 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO) "Using shotgun metagenomic sequencing, 29 heterotrophic metagenome-assembled-genomes (MAGs) were retrieved and were assigned to Bacteroidota, Alphaproteobacteria , Gammaproteobacteria , Verrucomicrobiota , Patescibacteria , Planctomycetota , and Archaea"
Alphaproteobacteria members	NCBITaxon:28211	CROSS_FEEDER SYNTROPHIC_PARTNER	COMMON
doi:10.3389/fmicb.2022.780346 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO) "Using shotgun metagenomic sequencing, 29 heterotrophic metagenome-assembled-genomes (MAGs) were retrieved and were assigned to Bacteroidota, Alphaproteobacteria , Gammaproteobacteria , Verrucomicrobiota , Patescibacteria , Planctomycetota , and Archaea"
Verrucomicrobiota members	NCBITaxon:74201	PRIMARY_DEGRADER	COMMON
doi:10.3389/fmicb.2022.780346 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO) "Using shotgun metagenomic sequencing, 29 heterotrophic metagenome-assembled-genomes (MAGs) were retrieved and were assigned to Bacteroidota, Alphaproteobacteria , Gammaproteobacteria , Verrucomicrobiota , Patescibacteria , Planctomycetota , and Archaea"
Planctomycetota members	NCBITaxon:203682	PRIMARY_DEGRADER	COMMON
doi:10.3389/fmicb.2022.780346 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO) "Using shotgun metagenomic sequencing, 29 heterotrophic metagenome-assembled-genomes (MAGs) were retrieved and were assigned to Bacteroidota, Alphaproteobacteria , Gammaproteobacteria , Verrucomicrobiota , Patescibacteria , Planctomycetota , and Archaea"

Ecological Interactions

Taxon

Cross-feeding

Mutualism

Syntrophy

Competition

Commensalism

Niche partitioning

Colonization facilitation

Strain competition

Predation

Photosynthetic CO2 Fixation

CROSS_FEEDING

Source Taxon: Candidatus Phormidium alkaliphilum

Metabolites: carbon dioxide (CHEBI:16526), dissolved organic matter (CHEBI:50860)

Biological Processes:

photosynthesis (GO:0015979)
carbon fixation (GO:0015977)

Downstream Effects:

→ Carbon Transfer to Heterotrophs

Evidence

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2022.780346 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)

"tight coupling of carbon transfer from cyanobacteria to the heterotrophic populations"

Carbon Transfer to Heterotrophs

CROSS_FEEDING

Source Taxon: Candidatus Phormidium alkaliphilum

Target Taxon: Wenzhouxiangella sp.

Metabolites: formate (CHEBI:15740), acetate (CHEBI:30089), lactate (CHEBI:24996), ethanol (CHEBI:16236), dihydrogen (CHEBI:18276)

Biological Processes:

organic substance catabolic process (GO:1901575)

Downstream Effects:

→ Nutrient Remineralization

Evidence

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2022.780346 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)

"tight coupling of carbon transfer from cyanobacteria to the heterotrophic populations"

Nutrient Remineralization

MUTUALISM

Source Taxon: Bacteroidota members

Target Taxon: Candidatus Phormidium alkaliphilum

Metabolites: inorganic nutrient (CHEBI:33284)

Biological Processes:

nutrient cycling (GO:0033013)

Downstream Effects:

→ Vitamin and Cofactor Exchange

Evidence

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2022.780346 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)

"tight coupling of carbon transfer from cyanobacteria to the heterotrophic populations"

Vitamin and Cofactor Exchange

MUTUALISM

Source Taxon: Bacteroidota members

Target Taxon: Candidatus Phormidium alkaliphilum

Metabolites: cobalamin (CHEBI:30411), thiamine (CHEBI:18385), biotin (CHEBI:15956)

Biological Processes:

vitamin biosynthetic process (GO:0009110)

Evidence

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2022.780346 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)

"Use of cyanobacterial consortium increases biodiversity, which provides functional redundancy and prevents invading species from disrupting the production ecosystem"

Oxidative Stress Reduction

MUTUALISM

Source Taxon: Wenzhouxiangella sp.

Target Taxon: Candidatus Phormidium alkaliphilum

Biological Processes:

response to oxidative stress (GO:0006979)

Evidence

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2022.780346 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)

"tight coupling of carbon transfer from cyanobacteria to the heterotrophic populations"

Polysaccharide Degradation

CROSS_FEEDING

Source Taxon: Planctomycetota members

Target Taxon: Verrucomicrobiota members

Metabolites: polysaccharide (CHEBI:18154)

Biological Processes:

polysaccharide catabolic process (GO:0000272)

Evidence

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2022.780346 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)

"tight coupling of carbon transfer from cyanobacteria to the heterotrophic populations"

Alphaproteobacterial Heterotrophy and Symbiosis

MUTUALISM

Source Taxon: Alphaproteobacteria members

Target Taxon: Candidatus Phormidium alkaliphilum

Biological Processes:

mutualism (GO:0044403)

Evidence

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2022.780346 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)

"tight coupling of carbon transfer from cyanobacteria to the heterotrophic populations"

Environmental Factors

Factor	Value	Unit
Alkaline pH	>11	pH units
doi:10.3389/fmicb.2022.780346 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO) "Here we characterized a cyanobacterial consortium enriched from microbial mats of alkaline soda lakes in BC, Canada, at high pH and alkalinity"
Stable Growth Duration	4 years	years
doi:10.3389/fmicb.2022.780346 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO) "This consortium has been grown in open laboratory culture for 4 years without crashes"
Light Cycle	16:8 hours	light:dark hours
doi:10.3389/fmicb.2022.780346 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO) "Genome information from each heterotrophic population was investigated for six ecological niches created by cyanobacterial metabolism and one niche for phototrophy"
Temperature	~25	°C
doi:10.3389/fmicb.2022.780346 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO) "tight coupling of carbon transfer from cyanobacteria to the heterotrophic populations"
Biomass Productivity	15.2 ± 1.0	g/m²/day
doi:10.3389/fmicb.2022.780346 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO) "Productivity losses associated with heterotrophic metabolism were relatively small compared to other losses during photosynthesis."
Community Robustness Mechanisms	Niche partitioning and functional redundancy	N/A
doi:10.3389/fmicb.2022.780346 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO) "Genome information from each heterotrophic population was investigated for six ecological niches created by cyanobacterial metabolism and one niche for phototrophy"