Biotransformation of 2,4-dinitrotoluene in a phototrophic co-culture of engineered Synechococcus elongatus and Pseudomonas putida.

In contrast to the current paradigm of using microbial mono-cultures in most biotechnological applications, increasing efforts are being directed towards engineering mixed-species consortia to perform functions that are difficult to programme into individual strains. In this work, we developed a synthetic microbial consortium composed of two genetically engineered microbes, a cyanobacterium (Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942) and a heterotrophic bacterium (Pseudomonas putida EM173). These microbial species specialize in the co-culture: cyanobacteria fix CO through photosynthetic metabolism and secrete sufficient carbohydrates to support the growth and active metabolism of P.

Cyanobacterial Surface Display System Mediates Engineered Interspecies and Abiotic Binding.

Cyanobacteria are uniquely suited for the development of sustainable bioproduction platforms but are currently underutilized in scaled applications in part due to a lack of genetic tools. Here, we develop a surface display system in the cyanobacterial model Synechococcus elongatus PCC7942 via expression of modified versions of the outer membrane porin SomA. Importantly, we demonstrate accessibility of heterologous functional groups on the recombinant porin to the external environment in living cells.