MicroScapesX

Background

Microbial multispecies assemblies have crucial roles in both natural and engineered ecosystems. They form largely spontaneously, exhibit a highly dynamic nature, and may have both detrimental consequences (e.g., material destruction, disease) as well as provide large benefits (e.g., biofuel production, waste management, microbiome-related health). Astonishingly, the basic principles that promote and control microbial multispecies assemblies remain largely unknown and underexplored. This knowledge gap limits our capacity to engineer and manage multispecies assemblies to fulfill or restore functions far more complex than can be achieved by manipulating single species. The primary overarching objective of this project is thus to study the biology of microbial multispecies assemblies at a systems level, and obtain quantitative and predictive models for their formation and behavior upon manipulation.

The key innovation proposed in this project is the systematic use of a synthetic and systems biology approach to elucidate and model the basic principles that govern and shape assembly and functionalities of microbial communities in a spatial context. This enabling knowledge is then essential for a second step: can we actually reproduce or manipulate the structure of microbial communities in a manner that prevents mal-functioning (e.g., disease) or helps to restore optimal functionality (e.g., pollution degradation or chemical production)?

Given the possibilities for experimental manipulation of microbial populations, and with recent conceptual advances in synthetic biology (i.e., understanding through assembly from building blocks), we expect that through the controlled design of microbial multispecies assemblies we can learn many of the basic rules that control and create functional microbial landscapes in unsaturated media such as soil. Therefore, our main goals are:

Quantify the mechanisms giving rise to stable spatial patterns of microbial consortia and link these to ecological functions.
Control of environmental conditions that promote desired configurations and select for target consortia members.

In the study of soil bacterial communities the hydration status of the environment is essential since the aqueous phase is indispensable to bacterial life and mediates the microbial interactions. The unsaturated conditions present in the soil lead to the fragmentation of the aqueous habitat which promotes the creation of ecological niches. This results in the unparalleled bacterial diversity found in soil.

Web site : http://www.microscapesx.ethz.ch

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