Co-cultures consisting of three thermophilic and lignocellulolytic bacteria, namely Clostridium thermocellum, C. stercorarium, and Thermoanaerobacter thermohydrosulfuricus, degrade lignocellulosic material in a synergistic manner. When cultured in a defined minimal medium two of the members appeared to be auxotrophic and unable to grow, but the growth of all species was observed in all co-culture combinations, indicating cross-feeding of unidentified growth factors between the members. Growth factors also appeared to be present in water-soluble extractives obtained from wheat straw, allowing for the growth of the auxotrophic monocultures in the defined minimal medium. Cell enumeration during growth on wheat straw in this medium revealed different growth profiles of the members that varied between the co-cultures. End-product profiles also varied substantially between the cultures, with significantly higher ethanol production in all co-cultures compared to the mono-cultures. Understanding interactions between co-culture members, and the additional nutrients provided by lignocellulosic substrates, will aid us in consolidated bioprocessing design.

由三种嗜热和木质纤维素分解细菌组成的共培养物，即Clostridium thermocellum、C. stercorarium和Thermoanaerobacter thermohydrosulfuricus, 以协同方式降解木质纤维素材料。当在限定的基本培养基中培养时，其中两个成员似乎是营养缺陷型的，无法生长，但在所有共培养组合中都观察到所有物种的生长，表明成员之间交叉喂养了不明生长因子。从小麦秸秆中提取的水溶性提取物中似乎也存在生长因子，这使得营养缺陷型单一培养物在限定的基本培养基中生长。在该培养基中麦秆上生长期间的细胞计数揭示了在共培养物之间变化的成员的不同生长曲线。培养物之间的终产物分布也有很大差异，与单一培养物相比，所有共培养物中的乙醇产量都显着提高。