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Quorum-driven microbial consortium for Bioplastic production from agro-waste

Summary

Scientists created a partnership between a fungus and bacteria to make eco-friendly plastic (PHA) from brewery and cooking waste. The fungus breaks down the tough plant material while the bacteria converts the released compounds into bioplastic. By adding a natural chemical signal (farnesol), they improved the process and scaled it up successfully in a larger reactor without needing expensive pretreatment steps.

Background

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are biodegradable bioplastics derived from renewable sources, but their high production costs limit commercial viability. Microbial consortia can leverage complementary metabolic capabilities for more efficient bioconversion. This study explores using agro-industrial residues (brewers’ spent grain and waste cooking oil) as sustainable feedstocks for PHA production.

Objective

To develop a synthetic interkingdom consortium combining the lignocellulolytic fungus Ophiostoma piceae and the PHA producer Pseudomonas putida KT2440 for PHA production from agro-waste. To investigate how the quorum sensing molecule farnesol influences consortium function and PHA accumulation.

Results

P. putida accumulated up to 40.2% intracellular PHA when farnesol was added, with total consortium PHA production reaching 1.9 g·L⁻¹. Farnesol increased fungal filamentation and P. putida proliferation. Bioreactor scale-up achieved 6.7 g·L⁻¹ PHA concentration without substrate pretreatment or sterilization, representing a 3.3-fold increase.

Conclusion

The O. piceae-P. putida consortium successfully produces PHAs from untreated agro-waste through complementary enzymatic activities and quorum sensing-mediated interactions. This consolidated bioprocess approach eliminates costly pretreatment steps and demonstrates industrial scalability for sustainable bioplastic production.
  • Published in:ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering,
  • Study Type:Experimental Study,
  • Source: PMID: 40969383, DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.5c05453
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