Advances in synthetic microbial consortia for improved production of biochemicals and biofuels

Review article, 2026

Synthetic microbial consortia have been widely used for the production of biochemicals and biofuels. By distributing biosynthetic tasks across multiple strains, it is possible to mitigate metabolic burden, alleviate metabolic crosstalk, and expand substrate and pathway flexibility. To obtain stable microbial consortia, it is crucial to rationally design and control community composition. Here, we review recent advancements in engineering synthetic microbial consortia for biotechnological applications. We also describe the approaches to maintain the stability of synthetic microbial consortia and regulate the populations, highlighting the importance of population control. The future perspective for constructing robust microbial consortia for sustainable biomanufacturing is also discussed.