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Synechococcus-Pseudomonas Phototrophic PHA and DNT Coculture

A synthetic, light-driven two-species coculture pairing engineered Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 cscB with engineered Pseudomonas putida strains that consume cyanobacterial sucrose. The cyanobacterium fixes CO2 and exports sucrose under salt/IPTG induction, while P. putida converts the transferred carbon into polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) and, in a related engineered implementation, transforms the industrial pollutant 2,4-dinitrotoluene. This platform is relevant to DOE carbon utilization, bioproduct formation, and contaminant bioremediation because it couples photosynthetic CO2 fixation to heterotrophic biocatalysis in a controlled laboratory community.

Taxonomy

Taxon Ontology ID Functional Roles Abundance
Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 cscB NCBITaxon:32046
PRIMARY_PRODUCER
DOMINANT
  • PMID:28814973 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "Synechococcus elongatus cscB fixes CO2, converts it to sucrose, and exports it"
  • PMID:38609451 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "cyanobacterium S. elongatus cscB, which supplies sucrose"
Pseudomonas putida engineered sucrose-utilizing partner NCBITaxon:303
CROSS_FEEDER PRIMARY_DEGRADER
ABUNDANT
  • PMID:28814973 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "Pseudomonas putida cscAB and is converted to PHAs"
  • PMID:32064751 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "heterotrophic bacterium (Pseudomonas putida EM173)"
  • PMID:38609451 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "heterotrophic P. putida cscRABY"

Ecological Interactions

Ecological interaction network for Synechococcus-Pseudomonas Phototrophic PHA and DNT 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

Photosynthetic Sucrose Cross-Feeding

CROSS_FEEDING

Source Taxon: Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 cscB

Target Taxon: Pseudomonas putida engineered sucrose-utilizing partner

Metabolites: carbon dioxide (CHEBI:16526), sucrose (CHEBI:17992)

Biological Processes:

Downstream Effects:
Heterotrophic PHA Accumulation
DNT Biotransformation

Evidence

  • PMID:28814973 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "this sugar serves as C-source for Pseudomonas putida cscAB"
  • PMID:32064751 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "cyanobacteria fix CO2 through photosynthetic metabolism and secrete sufficient carbohydrates"

Heterotrophic PHA Accumulation

CROSS_FEEDING

Source Taxon: Pseudomonas putida engineered sucrose-utilizing partner

Metabolites: sucrose (CHEBI:17992), poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (CHEBI:53389)

Biological Processes:

Evidence

  • PMID:28814973 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "maximal PHA production rate of 23.8"
  • PMID:32523942 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "PHA produced from light and CO2 was 8.8 fold increased"

DNT Biotransformation with Photosynthetic Carbon Input

CROSS_FEEDING

Source Taxon: Pseudomonas putida engineered sucrose-utilizing partner

Metabolites: 2,4-dinitrotoluene (CHEBI:920), sucrose (CHEBI:17992)

Biological Processes:

Evidence

  • PMID:32064751 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "degrade the environmental pollutant 2,4-dinitrotoluene (2,4-DNT)"
  • PMID:32064751 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "remediate the industrial pollutant 2,4-DNT while simultaneously synthesizing biopolymers"

Growth-Promoting Partner Feedback

MUTUALISM

Source Taxon: Pseudomonas putida engineered sucrose-utilizing partner

Target Taxon: Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 cscB

Metabolites: sucrose (CHEBI:17992)

Evidence

  • PMID:38609451 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "up to 80% increase in the growth rate and enhanced photosynthetic capacity"
  • PMID:38609451 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "exchange of further molecules beyond the unidirectional feeding with sucrose"

Associated Datasets

Dataset Type Repository Accession
MassIVE/GNPS multi-omics dataset for S. elongatus-P. putida coculture
Public MassIVE/GNPS dataset for the P. putida cscRABY and S. elongatus cscB multi-omics coculture study.
METABOLOMICS MASSIVE MSV000092369
ProteomeXchange/iProX proteomics dataset for S. elongatus-P. putida coculture
ProteomeXchange/iProX dataset associated with the S. elongatus cscB and P. putida cscRABY synthetic coculture multi-omics study.
METAPROTEOME OTHER PXD045253

External Resources

Name Repository Resource ID
Exact-system publication - PHA production from light and CO2
Primary publication establishing the S. elongatus cscB and P. putida cscAB species-pair platform for PHA production.
OTHER doi:10.1186/s13068-017-0875-0
  • PMID:28814973 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "mixed cultures of S. elongatus cscB and P. putida cscAB"
Exact-system publication - nitrate-blind P. putida PHA improvement
Follow-up publication using the same S. elongatus/P. putida species pair with engineered nitrate-blind P. putida for improved PHA production.
OTHER PMID:32523942
  • PMID:32523942 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "composed of two partner strains"
Exact-system publication - DNT biotransformation
DOE-linked publication extending the S. elongatus/P. putida species-pair platform to 2,4-dinitrotoluene biotransformation and PHA production.
OTHER PMID:32064751
  • PMID:32064751 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942) and a heterotrophic bacterium (Pseudomonas putida EM173)"
Exact-system publication - multi-omics interaction study
Multi-omics publication on the same S. elongatus/P. putida species pair, using S. elongatus cscB and P. putida cscRABY to characterize interaction mechanisms.
OTHER PMID:38609451
  • PMID:38609451 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "defined synthetic co-culture of the cyanobacterium S. elongatus cscB"

Environmental Factors

Factor Value Unit
Light and CO2 Illumination with CO2 as primary carbon input N/A
  • PMID:32064751 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "light and CO2 as the primary inputs"
  • PMID:28814973 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "carbon-neutral production of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) from CO2"
Nitrogen limitation and nitrate-blind engineering Nitrogen-limited or nitrate-blind P. putida conditions N/A
  • PMID:28814973 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "By applying a nitrogen-limited process"
  • PMID:32523942 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "uncoupling the PHA production from the presence of nitrate"

Growth Media