Study on the isoprene-producing co-culture system of Synechococcus elongates–Escherichia coli through omics analysis

BACKGROUND: The majority of microbial fermentations are currently performed in the batch or fed-batch manner with the high process complexity and huge water consumption. The continuous microbial production can contribute to the green sustainable development of the fermentation industry. The co-culture systems of photo-autotrophic and heterotrophic species can play important roles in establishing the continuous fermentation mode for the bio-based chemicals production. RESULTS: In the present paper, the co-culture system of Synechococcus elongates–Escherichia coli was established and put into operation stably for isoprene production. Compared with the axenic culture, the fermentation period of time was extended from 100 to 400 h in the co-culture and the isoprene production was increased to eightfold. For in depth understanding this novel system, the differential omics profiles were analyzed. The responses of BL21(DE3) to S. elongatus PCC 7942 were triggered by the oxidative pressure through the Fenton reaction and all these changes were linked with one another at different spatial and temporal scales. The oxidative stress mitigation pathways might contribute to the long-lasting fermentation process. The performance of this co-culture system can be further improved according to the fundamental rules discovered by the omics analysis. CONCLUSIONS: The isoprene-producing co-culture system of S. elongates–E. coli was established and then analyzed by the omics methods. This study on the co-culture system of the model S. elongates–E. coli is of significance to reveal the common interactions between photo-autotrophic and heterotrophic species without natural symbiotic relation, which could provide the scientific basis for rational design of microbial community.