Synthetic Lichen Synechococcus-Rhodotorula Coculture

Community ID CommunityMech:000149

Ecological State ENGINEERED

Environment laboratory phototrophic coculture
ENVO:01001405

A synthetic lichen-inspired phototroph-heterotroph coculture pairing engineered sucrose-secreting Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 with the oleaginous yeast Rhodotorula glutinis. The cyanobacterium fixes carbon dioxide under illumination and exports sucrose, while R. glutinis consumes the cyanobacterial photosynthate, increases coculture biomass and lipid yield, and alleviates reactive oxygen stress that limits low-density cyanobacterial axenic growth.

Taxonomy

Taxon	Ontology ID	Functional Roles	Abundance
Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 cscB+	NCBITaxon:32046	PRIMARY_PRODUCER CROSS_FEEDER	N/A
doi:10.1186/s13068-017-0736-x - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO) "sucrose-secreting cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus"
Rhodotorula glutinis	NCBITaxon:5535	CROSS_FEEDER SECONDARY_FERMENTER	N/A
doi:10.1186/s13068-017-0736-x - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO) "Rhodotorula glutinis"

Ecological Interactions

Taxon

Cross-feeding

Mutualism

Syntrophy

Competition

Commensalism

Niche partitioning

Colonization facilitation

Strain competition

Predation

Photosynthetic Sucrose Provisioning

CROSS_FEEDING

Source Taxon: Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 cscB+

Target Taxon: Rhodotorula glutinis

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

Biological Processes:

photosynthesis (GO:0015979)
sucrose biosynthetic process (GO:0005986)

Evidence

doi:10.1186/s13068-017-0736-x - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)

"R. glutinis and C. curvatus grew efficiently and utilized sucrose produced by the partner in co-culture"

Rhodotorula-Enhanced Cyanobacterial Survival

MUTUALISM

Source Taxon: Rhodotorula glutinis

Target Taxon: Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 cscB+

Metabolites: hydrogen peroxide (CHEBI:16240)

Biological Processes:

response to oxidative stress (GO:0006979)

Evidence

doi:10.1186/s13068-017-0736-x - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)

"cyanobacterial growth in co-culture with R. glutinis was significantly superior to axenic growth"
doi:10.1186/s13068-017-0736-x - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)

"Accumulated reactive oxygen species was observed to severely inhibit axenic growth of cyanobacteria"

Lipid Production Enhancement

CROSS_FEEDING

Source Taxon: Rhodotorula glutinis

Metabolites: sucrose (CHEBI:17992)

Biological Processes:

sucrose catabolic process (GO:0005987)
lipid biosynthetic process (GO:0008610)

Evidence

doi:10.1186/s13068-017-0736-x - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)

"final biomass and overall lipid yields in the batch co-culture 40 to 60% higher"

Associated Datasets

Dataset	Type	Repository	Accession
Artificial lichen coculture publication Open-access study reporting growth, sucrose use, ROS, biomass, and lipid measurements for S. elongatus-yeast artificial lichen cocultures.	PHENOTYPE	OTHER	doi:10.1186/s13068-017-0736-x

Environmental Factors

Factor	Value	Unit
modified BG-11 coculture medium	BG-11[co] with YNB without amino acids, ammonium chloride, IPTG, HEPES, and NaCl	N/A
doi:10.1186/s13068-017-0736-x - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO) "BG-11 medium supplemented with yeast nitrogen base without amino acids"
illumination and carbon dioxide	16:8 hour light/dark cycle with carbon dioxide-enriched air	N/A
doi:10.1186/s13068-017-0736-x - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO) "Illumination was provided by cool-white fluorescent lamps"

Growth Media

BG-11 coculture medium

Temperature 28 C

Atmosphere AEROBIC

Preparation notes: Modified BG-11 coculture medium with HEPES, YNB without amino acids, ammonium chloride, IPTG, and NaCl; cyanobacterial inoculum was grown with CO2-enriched aeration.

Evidence

doi:10.1186/s13068-017-0736-x

"Cultures were maintained under illumination of 100 μmol/m s with 16:8 h light/dark cycle"