biostudies-literatureUnknown11Ulcar BXunta de GaliciaFonds Wetenschappelijk OnderzoekUniversiteit GentEuropean Regional Development FundEfficient waste management is necessary to transition towards a more sustainable society. An emerging trend is to use mixed culture biotechnology to produce chemicals from organic waste. Insights into the metabolic interactions between community members and their growth characterization are needed to mediate knowledge-driven bioprocess development and optimization. Here, a granular sludge bioprocess for the production of caproic acid through sugar-based chain elongation metabolism was established. Lactic acid and chain-elongating bacteria were identified as the two main functional guilds in the granular community. The growth features of the main community representatives (isolate <i>Limosilactobacillus musocae</i> G03 for lactic acid bacteria and type strain <i>Caproiciproducens lactatiferFrontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology1291007https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC10809155biostudies-literatureWhy do lactic acid bacteria thrive in chain elongation microbiomes?PMC10809155Ulcar BPodojstersek MBoon NRegueira AGanigue RfalseWhy do lactic acid bacteria thrive in chain elongation microbiomes?Efficient waste management is necessary to transition towards a more sustainable society. An emerging trend is to use mixed culture biotechnology to produce chemicals from organic waste. Insights into the metabolic interactions between community members and their growth characterization are needed to mediate knowledge-driven bioprocess development and optimization. Here, a granular sludge bioprocess for the production of caproic acid through sugar-based chain elongation metabolism was established. Lactic acid and chain-elongating bacteria were identified as the two main functional guilds in the granular community. The growth features of the main community representatives (isolate <i>Limosilactobacillus musocae</i> G03 for lactic acid bacteria and type strain <i>Caproiciproducens lactatifer2023-01-01T00:00:00Z20232026-06-25T03:23:12.807Z2025-04-06T19:11:42.735ZS-EPMC108091553827401210.3389/fbioe.2023.1291007