Race for carbon: molecular carbon economics and logistics within a synthetic microbial community (B03)

• Subject Area: Bioinformatics and Theoretical Biology ; Metabolism, Biochemistry and Genetics of Microorganisms
• Term: since 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 458090666

Carbon acquisition is pivotal to microbial communities. Hence, individual members exhibit different strategies for carbon uptake, logistics and metabolisation. Here, we will establish a synthetic lichen-like microbial consortium composed of a cyanobacterium and two fungi. We will address different economic strategies of sucrose production, secretion, uptake and metabolisation as a test case for carbon management in microbial communities. Iterative cycles of computational modelling and experimental approaches, modulating the individual strategies of the different members, will guide our project to derive significant, novel insights into the regulation of stable communities.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1535: Microbial networking – from organelles to cross-kingdom communities
• Applicant Institution: Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf
• Project Heads: Professorin Dr. Ilka Maria Axmann; Professorin Dr. Anna Matuszynska; Dr. Kerstin Schipper