Table of Contents
How does syntrophy work?
Syntrophy involves fermenting Bacteria and methanogens Archaea in a complex metabolic process during which hydrogen could be generated by acetate oxidation and/or acetate could be generated by homoacetogens from hydrogen (Wang et al., 2013).
What is biofilm formation?
Biofilm formation is a process whereby microorganisms irreversibly attach to and grow on a surface and produce extracellular polymers that facilitate attachment and matrix formation, resulting in an alteration in the phenotype of the organisms with respect to growth rate and gene transcription.
What is Syntrophism with example?
A frequently cited example of syntrophy are methanogenic archaea bacteria and their partner bacteria that perform anaerobic fermentation. Figure: Methanogenic Bacteria in Termites: Methanogenic bacteria have a syntrophic relationship with protozoans living in the guts of termites.
Where does the word syntrophy come from in biology?
In biology, syntrophy, synthrophy, or cross-feeding (from Greek syn meaning together, trophe meaning nourishment) is the phenomenon of one species living off of the products of another species. In this type of biological interaction, the growth of one partner depends on the nutrients, growth factors, or substrates provided by the other partner.
How are symbiotic relationships based on syntrophy?
Many symbiotic relationships are based on syntrophy. Syntrophic microbial food webs can play an integral role in the breakdown of organic pollutants such as oils, aromatic compounds, and amino acids. Environmental contamination with oil is of high ecological importance, but can be mediated through syntrophic degradation.
What does Jan Dolfing mean by the term syntrophy?
Jan Dolfing described syntrophy as “the critical interdependency between producer and consumer”. This term for nutritional interdependence is often used in microbiology to describe this symbiotic relationship between bacterial species. Morris et al. have described the process as “obligately mutualistic metabolism”.
Which is an example of syntrophy in the rumen?
One excellent example of this syntrophy is interspecies hydrogen transfer. Some anaerobic fermenting microbes in the rumen (and other gastrointestinal tracts) are capable of degrading organic matter to short chain fatty acids, and hydrogen.