Complex function by design using spatially pre-structured synthetic microbial communities: degradation of pentachlorophenol in the presence of Hg(ii).

ABSTRACT: Naturally occurring microbes perform a variety of useful functions, with more complex processes requiring multiple functions performed by communities of multiple microbes. Synthetic biology via genetic engineering may be used to achieve desired multiple functions, e.g. multistep chemical and biological transformations, by adding genes to a single organism, but this is sometimes not possible due to incompatible metabolic requirements or not desirable in certain applications, especially in medical or environmental applications. Achieving multiple functions by mixing microbes that have not evolved to function together may not work due to competition of microbes, or lack of interactions among microbes. In nature, microbial communities are commonly spatially structured. Here, we tested whether

SUBMITTER: Kim HJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3005148 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature