Variovorax-Cryptococcus Vitamin Cross-Feeding Microcosm

Community ID CommunityMech:000213

Ecological State ENGINEERED

Environment mine-tailings-derived laboratory microbial consortium microcosm
ENVO:01001405

A two-member vitamin cross-feeding microcosm derived from mine tailings laboratory microbial consortia, in which a Variovorax species produces thiamine (vitamin B1) as a community hub for correlated thiamine auxotrophs and a Cryptococcus yeast supplies pantothenate (vitamin B5) required by Variovorax. Co-culture of the two members yielded a 90-130 fold fitness increase for both organisms, supporting the bidirectional vitamin-dependent mutualism predicted from metagenome-informed abundance correlation networks of mine-tailings-derived consortia grown under dozens of conditions.

Taxonomy

Taxon	Ontology ID	Functional Roles	Abundance
Variovorax species	NCBITaxon:34072	CROSS_FEEDER PRIMARY_PRODUCER	N/A
PMID:37553333 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO) "a Variovorax species is a hub as an important source of thiamine" PMID:37553333 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO) "pantothenate, which we show is required for growth of Variovorax"
Cryptococcus yeast	NCBITaxon:5206	CROSS_FEEDER PRIMARY_PRODUCER	N/A
PMID:37553333 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO) "A Cryptococcus yeast produces the B-vitamin pantothenate"

Ecological Interactions

Taxon

Cross-feeding

Mutualism

Syntrophy

Competition

Commensalism

Niche partitioning

Colonization facilitation

Strain competition

Predation

Variovorax Thiamine Provision to Auxotrophs

CROSS_FEEDING

Source Taxon: Variovorax species

Metabolites: thiamine (CHEBI:18385)

Biological Processes:

thiamine biosynthetic process (GO:0009228)
interspecies interaction between organisms (GO:0044419)

Evidence

PMID:37553333 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)

"Quantification of thiamine during the growth of Variovorax in minimal media show high levels of thiamine production"

Cryptococcus Pantothenate Provision to Variovorax

CROSS_FEEDING

Source Taxon: Cryptococcus yeast

Target Taxon: Variovorax species

Metabolites: pantothenate (CHEBI:7916)

Biological Processes:

pantothenate biosynthetic process (GO:0015940)
interspecies interaction between organisms (GO:0044419)

Evidence

PMID:37553333 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)

"A Cryptococcus yeast produces the B-vitamin pantothenate"
PMID:37553333 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)

"pantothenate, which we show is required for growth of Variovorax"

Bidirectional Vitamin Mutualism in Coculture

MUTUALISM

Source Taxon: Variovorax species

Target Taxon: Cryptococcus yeast

Metabolites: thiamine (CHEBI:18385), pantothenate (CHEBI:7916)

Biological Processes:

interspecies interaction between organisms (GO:0044419)

Evidence

PMID:37553333 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)

"co-culturing with Variovorax leads to a 90-130-fold fitness increase for both organisms"

External Resources

Name	Repository	Resource ID
Primary publication for the vitamin-interdependency microcosm PubMed record for the Hessler et al. 2023 Nature Communications paper validating predicted vitamin cross-feeding in mine-tailings-derived microcosms.	OTHER	PMID:37553333
PMID:37553333 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO) "metagenome-informed, microbial consortia-based network analyses"
DOI landing page DOI link to the Nature Communications paper.	OTHER	doi:10.1038/s41467-023-40360-4

Environmental Factors

Factor	Value	Unit
Minimal vitamin-defined media	minimal medium with controlled vitamin availability	N/A
PMID:37553333 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO) "grown under dozens of conditions" PMID:37553333 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO) "Quantification of thiamine during the growth of Variovorax in minimal media"

Growth Media

Mine-tailings-derived consortium growth media (minimal, defined)

Atmosphere AEROBIC

Preparation notes: Minimal defined media were used to assay vitamin-driven dependencies; thiamine and pantothenate are produced by community members (Variovorax and Cryptococcus respectively) rather than added exogenously, and full media composition is not enumerated in the abstract.

Evidence

PMID:37553333

"Variovorax in minimal media"