Scientists on the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research have developed a contemporary system – called the Metaphlow Train – which allows the study of metabolic exchange and interactions inside microbial communities in environmental conditions. The study has now been published.
Microbial communities consist of groups of microorganisms, equivalent to bacteria, cookie, and other microscopic life forms, which live in a certain environment. Although the bare eyes are hidden, these communities are key to the collapse of nutrient cycling, food web dynamics, and pollution within the ecosystem. They are also essential to supporting the health of plants, animals and humans that may increase the acquisition of nutrients, reinforce the immune system, and protect against harmful pathogens.
Small organisms inside microbial communities interact with their environment and one another not only through physical contacts – but additionally through the exchange of metabolitis. These are the small molecules hidden by microorganisms within the so -called exomotabolitis environment, equivalent to amino acids, organic acids, alcohol and secondary metabolitis. They play a crucial role in impacting microbial communities, affecting interaction through cooperation and competition. In these highly dynamic systems, it has been difficult for scientists to discover which microorganisms produce specific metabolitis and the way these metabolitis affect other members of the microbial community.
Stephen Hackward and his team work to know the interaction between members of the microbial communities affiliated with the plant. They found that separating microorganisms would allow physical contact to exclude the results. In this fashion, any remaining phenomena might be fully attributed to the exchange of metabolitis and signals.
The fruit of this sense is a meta flu train, a purposeful floodic system that permits scientists to introduce different microorganisms to special 3D printed micro chamber. These micro chambers are surrounded by filters that allow the metabolite exchange to stop the transfer of microorganisms. These micro chambers can stand alone or put them in a series (equivalent to, equivalent to a train with different wagons), holding different groups of microorganisms. For example, with bacteria in the primary chamber and cookies within the second, scientists can now observe how the bacteria affect the fungus – and vice versa – just by changing the chambers.
The everlasting flow of the fresh medium connecting these chambers allows to introduce various stress aspects to the system and prevents the shortage of nutrients within the micro chambers. It represents a key innovation for identifying novel microbial eczemotabolitis with bio -active or signaling properties that form microbial communities.
The metaphlow is simple to construct and low-cost, and has the potential to discover molecules who mediate microbes in microbes and microbes associations. In particular, scientists can now improve the 'Evice drop' on metabolic dialogues that advance or compete in microbial communities. In addition, using the novel anti -microbials, utilizing the abilities of the system that forestalls destructive plants' pathogens offers latest opportunities for sustainable agriculture and crop protection. In addition, this technique will also be used to discover natural compounds for medicines and other fields.
“The amazing diversity of molecules produced by microbes is the result of millions of years of evolution. These invoices offer various functions that promote these communities in survival, adaptation and different environments. Some of them understand the functions and functions of the molecules,” Stephen Hacker. “