BioCellulose production from a Synthetic Microbial Community: sustainable process for food and healthy applications
Project The production of microbial biopolymers has received great attention because of their eco-friendly and sustainable nature compared
to petroleum-based and chemically synthesized polymers.
Bacterial cellulose (BC) is certainly one the most promising and attractive biopolymer, and its chemical and structural properties
(e.g. higher crystallinity and purity compared to plant-based cellulose; nanofiber network; biodegradable, biocompatible, non-toxic
features), make it suitable for several applications in food- and biomedical-related fields. BC is mainly produced by acetic acid
bacteria (AAB), but yield and quality are strongly affected by process parameters (e.g. carbon and nitrogen sources, pH, oxygen
level, cultivation system) and strain-dependent features (e.g. metabolic and genetic functionalities). The above limitations still link
BC exclusively to high-value niche markets, and several efforts still need to provide a more controlled and cost-effective process.
Based on these considerations, the project will be focused on the exploitation of a targeted synthetic microbial community (SMC) as
a strategy to drive an efficient and sustainable BC production, by solving some constraints (e.g. poor complex substrate utilization,
low robustness to harsh conditions, variability, low BC yield) related to the metabolism of individual strains. SMC will be implemented
by assembling AAB, lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and yeasts (Y), which naturally cooperate in some fermented foods, to ensure
metabolic diversity and cooperative interactions. The efficiency (labour division, compartimentalisation, metabolic networks) of
designed SMC, as well as the biochemical and structural properties of BC, will be verified in both synthetic media (optimization of
process parameters to boost BC yield) and in high-carbon containing wastes (process sustainability and reduction of
biotransformation costs).
To reach the main project objectives (i.e. prediction and construction of an efficient microbial BC-producing machinery; definition of
the best working conditions of designed SMC; implementation of a cost-effective BC production by using agri-food wastes), an
integrated approach based on computational-based modelling, biotransformation, metabolomic, transcriptomic, physicochemical
and biochemical characterization studies will be applied.
The carrying out of planned activities and the achievement of settled objectives will allow to increase knowledge on the production
of BC, and will provide a robust and effective tool (i.e. the targeted SMC) to drive a more controlled processes, for future purposes also at industrial scale. Moreover, the exploiting of agri-food wastes as cheap carbon sources will meet the circular economy and
sustainability criteria indicated by the government regulations and strategies to improve human health and reduce environmental
damages.