Journal article
Design of Synthetic Microbial Coculture for Advanced Biomanufacturing of Lignocellulosic Biofuels and Bioproducts
Green chemistry : an international journal and green chemistry resource : GC, Vol.28(32), pp.13152-13174
07/15/2026
DOI: 10.1039/D6GC01271J
Appears in UI Libraries Support Open Access
Abstract
Microbial fermentation is a key technology for efficient transformation of lignocellulosic resources into various value-added products. Synthetic microbial cocultures are rapidly emerging as a powerful strategy to overcome fundamental limitations of monoculture-based lignocellulose fermentation. By distributing complex tasks such as lignocellulose depolymerization, inhibitor detoxification, mixed-sugar utilization, and product formation across complementary microbial specialists, cocultures can alleviate metabolic burden, improve substrate and product coverage, and enhance process robustness against variable feedstock quality and inhibitor loads. Therefore, advancing microbial coculture design and implementation will enable more efficient and scalable microbial conversion of lignocellulose. This tutorial review outlines general design principles for synthetic microbial cocultures, highlighting four central design objectives: division of labor, flexible product formation from heterogeneous substrates, enhanced robustness through beneficial interspecies interactions, and programmable control of community population and function.Within this framework, coculture architectures are examined in terms of how they can be tailored to distinct lignocellulosic pretreatment strategies and process configurations, with recent case studies being used to illustrate enhanced carbon utilization, inhibitor tolerance, and multiproduct valorization from diverse biomass hydrolysates. Furthermore, emerging modeling, synthetic biology, and advanced fermentation tools that can integrate ecological design with process systems engineering to deliver data-driven coculture processes, ultimately supporting a circular bioeconomy with lower environmental footprint and more sustainable chemical production. Collectively, this review connects advances in microbial coculture engineering and their underlying design principles to greener, cost-competitive biomanufacturing by decreasing dependence on harsh chemical processes, improving resource utilization, and upgrading renewable lignocellulosic feedstocks into sustainable products.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Design of Synthetic Microbial Coculture for Advanced Biomanufacturing of Lignocellulosic Biofuels and Bioproducts
- Creators
- Hyun-Joong Kim - Korea Institute of Science and TechnologyYoonmi Choi - University of Nebraska–LincolnJiwoo Han - University of IowaJa Kyong Ko - Korea Institute of Science and TechnologyHyun-Seob Song - University of Nebraska–LincolnHyeongmin Seo - University of Iowa
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Green chemistry : an international journal and green chemistry resource : GC, Vol.28(32), pp.13152-13174
- DOI
- 10.1039/D6GC01271J
- ISSN
- 1463-9262
- eISSN
- 1463-9270
- Publisher
- Royal Society of Chemistry
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 07/15/2026
- Academic Unit
- Chemical and Biochemical Engineering
- Record Identifier
- 9985213548102771
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