How can computer models help design microbial communities? Within the framework of the Collaborative Research Center CRC1535 “MibiNet” in cooperation with Heinrich Heine University Dusseldorf (HHU), a research team consisting of members from Aachen, Dusseldorf and East Lansing/USA, developed the so-called synthetic biology development perspective. Reviewed. In the journal Science, he explains why computer-aided biology plays a crucial role.
Communities of microorganisms – bacteria, fungi and viruses – could be found all over the place, and particularly in living organisms, where they fulfill a wide range of functions. For example, the microbial community within the human gut, the so-called microbiome, is crucial for metabolism — microorganisms are needed to interrupt down many nutrients and make them available to the body. If the composition of the microbiome is misaligned, it could actually cause significant harm to the organism as a complete.
The interdisciplinary research field of “synthetic biology” can be increasingly specializing in these microbial networks. The goal is to make use of engineering principles to design and construct latest biological systems and organisms that may perform specific functions. Genetic engineering methods help to change and transfer DNA and RNA in several organisms. Synthetic biology initially focused on individual synthetic organisms, but its potential to design highly complex networks resembling artificial communities of (artificial) organisms is becoming increasingly apparent.
Such artificial communities offer a wide selection of potential application areas, including disease mitigation, crop productivity enhancement or the production of precious biological molecules.
CRC1535 “MibiNet” researchers are inspired by natural lichens, wherein phototrophic cyanobacteria or algae form an in depth symbiotic relationship with heterotrophic fungal partners. They wish to develop the microbial networking shown here for example for future applications. The research results are intended as a contribution towards establishing interdisciplinary methods and technologies for CO2-negative processes, i.e. processes that actively capture CO2 from the environment. An additional research project — ACceSS — goals to harness energy from the sun for wastewater treatment.
In the journal Science, researchers from Aachen University of Technology (RWTH), HHU and Michigan State University (MSU) in East Lansing, USA, outline this future direction of synthetic biology development. They emphasize the role of computational biology as an integral component, which may greatly simplify the design of artificial communities.
Prof. Dr. Alka Axmann from HHU, corresponding creator of the study: “We propose a change in approach from a single organism-centric approach to an emphasis on the active contribution of organisms within the community.” Regarding the research approach, she adds: “The focus is on the work that the community as a whole must do. It is irrelevant what specific organisms are involved: organisms are just chassis in which the necessary There are metabolic pathways, which provide the desired functional roles.”
Dr. Daniel C. Duckett, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at MSU, says: “A growing number of examples show that although the specific species composition of complex microbial communities can change over time or across locations, the community Specific functions are stable at large.”
Dr. Anna Matszynska, lead creator of the study and junior professor of computational life science at RWTH: “Computational biology can support modularization in synthetic biology, which is desirable because it can reduce complexity and create versatile, scalable frameworks. With the assistance of mathematical models that could be tailored to specific biological communities, we aim to be sure that they work reliably and efficiently. It is to be utilized in the early stages of development.