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Zymomonas-E. coli Exometabolomics-Designed Obligate Mutualism

A defined synthetic obligate mutualism pairing auxotrophic Zymomonas mobilis with auxotrophic Escherichia coli. Exometabolomics of Z. mobilis spent medium identified amino acid exometabolites used to select E. coli proA, pheA, and ilvA auxotroph partners, while mutant fitness profiling selected a Z. mobilis ZMO0748 auxotroph whose rescue was linked to glutathione-related metabolites in E. coli spent medium. The system is DOE-relevant because it was developed by LBNL and Sandia researchers with DOE BER support as a synthetic microbial ecology platform for more resilient biotechnology processes.

Taxonomy

Taxon Ontology ID Functional Roles Abundance
Zymomonas mobilis NCBITaxon:542
CROSS_FEEDER
N/A
  • PMID:26885935 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "Zymomonas mobilis and Escherichia coli, were selected as the test species"
  • PMID:26885935 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "An auxotroph mutant in a gene (ZMO0748)"
Escherichia coli NCBITaxon:562
CROSS_FEEDER
N/A
  • PMID:26885935 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "Zymomonas mobilis and Escherichia coli, were selected as the test species"
  • PMID:26885935 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "three corresponding E. coli auxotrophs (proA, pheA and IlvA)"

Ecological Interactions

Ecological interaction network for Zymomonas-E. coli Exometabolomics-Designed Obligate Mutualism 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

Zymomonas Amino Acid Rescue of E. coli Auxotrophs

CROSS_FEEDING

Source Taxon: Zymomonas mobilis

Target Taxon: Escherichia coli

Metabolites: amino acid (CHEBI:33709)

Biological Processes:

  • interspecies interaction between organisms (GO:0044419)

Evidence

  • PMID:26885935 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "Amino acid exometabolites identified in the spent medium of Z. mobilis"
  • PMID:26885935 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "used to select three corresponding E. coli auxotrophs"

E. coli Glutathione-Related Rescue of Zymomonas Auxotroph

CROSS_FEEDING

Source Taxon: Escherichia coli

Target Taxon: Zymomonas mobilis

Metabolites: glutathione (CHEBI:16856)

Biological Processes:

  • interspecies interaction between organisms (GO:0044419)

Evidence

  • PMID:26885935 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "identified glutathione related metabolites as potentially available for rescue"
  • PMID:26885935 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "rescue of the Z. mobilis cysteine synthase mutant"

Reciprocal Auxotroph Coculture Growth

MUTUALISM

Source Taxon: Zymomonas mobilis

Target Taxon: Escherichia coli

Biological Processes:

  • interspecies interaction between organisms (GO:0044419)

Evidence

  • PMID:26885935 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "Three sets of cocultures between the Z. mobilis auxotroph and each of the three E. coli auxotrophs"
  • PMID:26885935 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "monitored by optical density for growth"

External Resources

Name Repository Resource ID
Primary publication - exometabolomics-designed obligate mutualism
Primary publication reporting exometabolomics-assisted design and validation of Z. mobilis and E. coli synthetic obligate mutualisms.
OTHER PMID:26885935
  • PMID:26885935 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "Exometabolomics Assisted Design and Validation of Synthetic Obligate Mutualism"
DOI landing page - exometabolomics-designed obligate mutualism
DOI landing page for the ACS Synthetic Biology article.
OTHER doi:10.1021/acssynbio.5b00236
  • PMID:26885935 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "Exometabolomics Assisted Design and Validation of Synthetic Obligate Mutualism"
DOE PAGES record for the exact publication
DOE PAGES metadata for the publication, including LBNL and Sandia affiliations and DOE BER sponsorship.
OTHER OSTI:1429352
  • PMID:26885935 - SUPPORT (OTHER)
    "Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory"

Environmental Factors

Factor Value Unit
Auxotrophic mutant selection Z. mobilis ZMO0748 auxotroph with E. coli proA, pheA, or ilvA auxotrophs N/A
  • PMID:26885935 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "depend on each other for exchange or cross-feeding of metabolites"
  • PMID:26885935 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "An auxotroph mutant in a gene (ZMO0748)"
Exometabolomics-guided partner selection Mass spectrometry-based exometabolomics of spent media N/A
  • PMID:26885935 - SUPPORT (IN_VITRO)
    "mass spectrometry based exometabolomics as a method for constructing synthetic mutualism"

Growth Media