Synthetic microbial consortia

The combination of autotrophic and heterotrophic microbes allows the unique possibility of a self-sufficient community that may produce desired biofuels to be collected.

[2] In isolated systems this can be a restriction to the feasibility of large-scale biofuel operations, like algae ponds, where contamination can significantly reduce the desired output.

and methanogens from the soil in a rice paddy field, it was discovered that the use of interspecies electron transfer stimulated the production of methane.

Through consortia, synthetic biologists have been able to design an enhanced efficiency in bacteria that can excrete bio-surfactants as well as degrade hydrocarbons for the interests of cleaning oil contamination in Assam, India.

[9] Their experiment took combinations of five native naturally occurring hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria, and analyzed the different cocktails to see which degraded poly-aromatic hydrocarbons the best.

[10]As an answer to the increase in use of non-biodegradable, oil-based plastics and its subsequent accumulation as waste, scientists have developed biodegradable and compostable alternatives often called bioplastics.

[15][16] PHB production starting from carbon dioxide in a co-culture between S. elongatus and H. boliviensis has proven to be a stable continually-productive pair for 5 months without the aid of antibiotics.