2024 AIChE Annual Meeting

(573z) Understanding Microbial Processes of Algal-Fixed Carbon Using a Co-Culture Porous Microplate

Authors

Hyungseok Kim - Presenter, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Vanessa L. Brisson, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
John R. Casey, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Jeffrey A. Kimbrel, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Kristina A. Rolison, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Christopher A. Vaiana, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Peter K. Weber, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Rhona K. Stuart, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Xavier Mayali, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Cullen R. Buie, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Photosynthetic microalgae have potential as a renewable bioenergy source, but the role of their microbiome in outdoor ponds is poorly understood. While the bacteria can consume up to 50% of the fixed carbon, they are unavoidable and are known to impact the algal productivity. In this work we present a novel co-culture method (“porous microplate”) to study how the associated bacteria spatiotemporally respond to algal exometabolites in vivo. Mechanistic design of the porous microplate allowed us to identify taxonomically distinct responses in or between bacterial isolates. The results were consistent with their individual consumption patterns of the algal exometabolites, identified using untargeted metabolomics, suggesting a competitive interaction in our co-culture system. Our systems biology approach exemplifies how the microbes spatiotemporally interact while competing for limited resources. The presented method can also be useful in understanding more advanced manufacturing systems examining interactions in, and between, other biological domains such as bacteria, fungi and yeast.