Environment Constrains Fitness Advantages of Division of Labor in Microbial Consortia Engineered for Metabolite Push or Pull Interactions.

ABSTRACT: Fitness benefits from division of labor are well documented in microbial consortia, but the dependency of the benefits on environmental context is poorly understood. Two synthetic Escherichia coli consortia were built to test the relationships between exchanged organic acid, local environment, and opportunity costs of different metabolic strategies. Opportunity costs quantify benefits not realized due to selecting one phenotype over another. The consortia catabolized glucose and exchanged either acetic or lactic acid to create producer-consumer food webs. The organic acids had different inhibitory properties and different opportunity costs associated with their positions in central metabolism. The exchanged metabolites modulated different consortial dynamics. The acetic acid-exchanging (AA

SUBMITTER: Beck AE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9426560 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature