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Synechococcus-Saccharomyces Synthetic Photosynthetic Consortium

Community ID CommunityMech:000067
Ecological State ENGINEERED
Environment laboratory bioreactor
ENVO:01001405

A synthetic, light-driven consortium pairing the cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 (engineered to secrete sucrose via the cscB+ transporter) with the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae W303Clump. The cyanobacterium fixes CO2 and exports sucrose, which supports heterotrophic growth of the yeast. Wild-type W303 did not grow in co-culture; W303Clump, an evolved derivative carrying mutations that enhance fitness in dilute sucrose, did, and maintained viability in continuous co-culture for more than two months.

Taxonomy

Taxon Ontology ID Functional Roles Abundance
Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 cscB+ NCBITaxon:32046
PRIMARY_PRODUCER
DOMINANT
  • PMID:28127397 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "We previously engineered a model cyanobacterium, Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942, to secrete the bulk of the carbon it fixes as sucrose, a carbohydrate that can be utilized by many other microbes"
Saccharomyces cerevisiae W303Clump NCBITaxon:4932
CROSS_FEEDER
ABUNDANT
  • PMID:28127397 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "S. cerevisiae W303Clump maintains viability in continuous culture with sucrose-secreting S. elongatus for greater than two months"
  • PMID:28127397 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "W303Clump (originally called Recreated02 in Koschwanez et al. 2013) contains mutations in genes CSE2, IRA1, MTH1, and UBR1 that enhance fitness in dilute sucrose"
  • PMID:28127397 - REFUTE (IN_VITRO)
    "Wild type (WT) S. cerevisiae W303 did not grow in co-culture with or without IPTG induction"

Ecological Interactions

Ecological interaction network for Synechococcus-Saccharomyces Synthetic Photosynthetic Consortium Bipartite graph where circle nodes represent taxa and each ecological interaction is drawn as a distinct non-circular symbol, with colour repeating the same distinction (cross-feeding).
Taxon
Cross-feeding

CO2 Fixation and Sucrose Production

CROSS_FEEDING

Source Taxon: Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 cscB+

Metabolites: sucrose (CHEBI:17992)

Biological Processes:

Downstream Effects:
→ Sucrose Utilization by the Heterotrophic Partner

Evidence

  • PMID:28127397 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "We previously engineered a model cyanobacterium, Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942, to secrete the bulk of the carbon it fixes as sucrose, a carbohydrate that can be utilized by many other microbes"

Sucrose Utilization by the Heterotrophic Partner

CROSS_FEEDING

Source Taxon: Saccharomyces cerevisiae W303Clump

Metabolites: sucrose (CHEBI:17992)

Biological Processes:

Evidence

  • PMID:28127397 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "Stability and productivity of autotroph/heterotroph co-cultures was dependent on heterotroph sucrose utilization, as well as other species-independent interactions that we observed across all dyads"

Growth Media

BG-11-based photosynthetic co-culture medium

Temperature 35 °C
Atmosphere AEROBIC

Preparation notes: S. elongatus propagated in BG-11 + 1 g/L HEPES (pH 8, 35 °C, constant light); the yeast partner grown in the yeast co-culture medium CoY BG-11. The general co-culture conditions (35 °C, 150 rpm, 2% CO2, ~80 µmol PAR) apply across all cyanobacterium/heterotroph dyads in the source. 2% sucrose added to acclimate; IPTG induces sucrose export. Long-term co-cultures were run in Phenometrics environmental photobioreactors on a 16:8 light:dark cycle.

Evidence

PMID:28127397

"All acclimating cultures and co-cultures were grown at 35 °C, 150 rpm, 2% CO2, in light (PAR = ~80 μmol with 15 W Gro-Lux Sylvania fluorescent bulbs) within a Multitron Infors HT incubator"

PMID:28127397

"S. elongatus was propagated in BG-11 (Sigma-Aldrich) plus 1 g/L HEPES, pH 8 in constant light at 35 °C"