The Structure of Stable Cellulolytic Consortia Isolated from Natural Lignocellulosic Substrates

Recycling plant matter is one of the challenges facing humanity today and depends on efficient lignocellulose degradation. Although many bacterial strains from natural substrates demonstrate cellulolytic activities, the CAZymes (Carbohydrate-Active enZYmes) responsible for these activities are very diverse and usually distributed among different bacteria in one habitat. Thus, using microbial consortia can be a solution to rapid and effective decomposition of plant biomass. Four cellulolytic consortia were isolated from enrichment cultures from composting natural lignocellulosic substrates—oat straw, pine sawdust, and birch leaf litter. Enrichment cultures facilitated growth of similar, but not identical cellulose-decomposing bacteria from different substrates. Major components in all consortia were from Proteobacteria, Actinobacteriota and Bacteroidota, but some were specific for different substrates—Verrucomicrobiota and Myxococcota from straw, Planctomycetota from sawdust and Firmicutes from leaf litter. While most members of the consortia were involved in the lignocellulose degradation, some demonstrated additional metabolic activities. Consortia did not differ in the composition of CAZymes genes, but rather in axillary functions, such as ABC-transporters and two-component systems, usually taxon-specific and associated with CAZymes. Our findings show that enrichment cultures can provide reproducible cellulolytic consortia from various lignocellulosic substrates, the stability of which is ensured by tight microbial relations between its components.