A defined anaerobic three-member coculture in which fermentative Trichococcus flocculiformis strain ES5 stimulates the syntrophic butyrate-oxidizing partnership between Syntrophomonas wolfei and Methanospirillum hungatei. The system extends the classic two-member fatty-acid syntrophy model by adding a fermentative bacterium that increases butyrate consumption and methane production and aggregates with the syntrophic partners. It is relevant to DOE anaerobic carbon cycling, wastewater treatment bioreactors, and engineered methanogenic consortia.
Taxonomy
| Taxon | Ontology ID | Functional Roles | Abundance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trichococcus flocculiformis strain ES5 | NCBITaxon:82803 |
SECONDARY_FERMENTER
CROSS_FEEDER
|
N/A |
|
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| Syntrophomonas wolfei | NCBITaxon:863 |
PRIMARY_DEGRADER
SYNTROPHIC_PARTNER
|
N/A |
|
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| Methanospirillum hungatei | NCBITaxon:2203 |
SYNTROPHIC_PARTNER
CROSS_FEEDER
|
N/A |
|
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Ecological Interactions
Fermenter-Stimulated Butyrate Oxidation and Methane Production
SYNTROPHYSource Taxon: Trichococcus flocculiformis strain ES5
Target Taxon: Syntrophomonas wolfei
Metabolites: butyrate (CHEBI:17968), methane (CHEBI:16183)
Biological Processes:
- fatty acid beta-oxidation (GO:0006635)
- methanogenesis (GO:0015948)
Evidence
-
PMID:35699440 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)"The addition of T. flocculiformis ES5 to the syntrophic cocultures led to an increase"
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PMID:35699440 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)"rates of butyrate consumption (120%) and volumetric methane production (150%)"
Aggregation With Syntrophic Partners
COLONIZATION_FACILITATIONSource Taxon: Trichococcus flocculiformis strain ES5
Target Taxon: Methanospirillum hungatei
Biological Processes:
- interspecies interaction between organisms (GO:0044419)
Evidence
-
PMID:35699440 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)"S. wolfei, M. hungatei, and T. flocculiformis ES5"
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PMID:35699440 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)"T. flocculiformis ES5 to aggregate with the syntrophic partners"
Proteome Response in the Syntrophic Partners
SYNTROPHYSource Taxon: Trichococcus flocculiformis strain ES5
Target Taxon: Syntrophomonas wolfei
Biological Processes:
- fatty acid beta-oxidation (GO:0006635)
Evidence
-
PMID:35699440 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)"signal transducing systems of M. hungatei"
-
PMID:35699440 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)"activation of additional butyryl coenzyme A dehydrogenase and an electron transfer flavoprotein"
Associated Datasets
| Dataset | Type | Repository | Accession |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Trichococcus flocculiformis DSM 23957 genome assembly
Genome assembly for T. flocculiformis ES5/DSM 23957, the fermentative strain added to the coculture. |
GENOMICS | OTHER | GCA_900129415 |
|
Trichococcus flocculiformis DSM 23957 IMG genome
JGI IMG genome resource for T. flocculiformis DSM 23957. |
GENOMICS | JGI_IMG | 2619618835 |
Knowledge gaps & discussions (1)
KNOWLEDGE_GAP OPEN Does T. flocculiformis ES5 improve the S. wolfei / M. hungatei syntrophy via co-aggregation-based spatial bridging (possible DIET) or via the observed proteomic changes, and is either mechanism causal rather than correlative?
The ES5-driven increase in butyrate consumption (120%) and methane (150%) is perturbation-supported, but the mediating mechanism is unresolved: aggregation and the partner proteome response are observed correlates, not demonstrated causal mediators (the two `downstream` edges here are flagged HYPOTHESIZED accordingly). Direct interspecies electron transfer was not experimentally demonstrated for this tri-culture, and the exact ES5 bridging role remains an open question per the source.
Attaches to: ecological_interactions#Aggregation With Syntrophic Partners, ecological_interactions#Proteome Response in the Syntrophic Partners
1 evidence item(s)
T. flocculiformis ES5 to aggregate with the syntrophic partners
Aggregation is reported as an association accompanying the ES5 effect, without a demonstrated causal-mediation or DIET mechanism — the basis for the knowledge gap.
External Resources
| Name | Repository | Resource ID |
|---|---|---|
|
Exact-system primary publication - ES5-stimulated S. wolfei and M. hungatei coculture
Primary publication reporting the T. flocculiformis ES5, S. wolfei, and M. hungatei three-member coculture; no additional exact-composition publication was identified during this curation pass. |
OTHER | PMID:35699440 |
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DOI landing page - ES5-stimulated syntrophic coculture
DOI landing page for the exact-system primary publication. |
OTHER | doi:10.1128/aem.00391-22 |
|
NCBI Taxonomy - Trichococcus flocculiformis
NCBI Taxonomy record for Trichococcus flocculiformis. |
OTHER | NCBITaxon:82803 |
|
BacDive strain record - Trichococcus flocculiformis ES5
BacDive record for T. flocculiformis ES5/DSM 23957, including NCBI taxon, culture collection, isolation, and genome links. |
OTHER | BacDive:2286 |
|
NCBI Taxonomy - Syntrophomonas wolfei
NCBI Taxonomy record for Syntrophomonas wolfei. |
OTHER | NCBITaxon:863 |
|
NCBI Taxonomy - Methanospirillum hungatei
NCBI Taxonomy record for Methanospirillum hungatei. |
OTHER | NCBITaxon:2203 |
Environmental Factors
| Factor | Value | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| Anoxic anaerobic ecosystem context | anoxic sediments, soils, and wastewater treatment bioreactors | N/A |
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| Fermentative bacterium addition | Trichococcus flocculiformis strain ES5 added | N/A |
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| Butyrate and methane rate response | increased butyrate consumption and methane production | N/A |
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