The Microbiome as Engineering Tool
Sebastian Behrens
Civil, Environmental, and Geo- Engineering, University of Minnesota
ABSTRACT: Microbial communities underpin the biogeochemical cycles of the earth’s soil, oceans, and atmosphere, and they perform functions in natural and engineered ecosystems that impact all life on earth and provide service to society. Yet our ability to manage these communities is limited. Behrens argues that more direct monitoring and steering of microbial community processes is crucial for energy efficient wastewater treatment, healthy drinking water production, and successful bioremediation strategies. Behrens discusses examples of nitrification failure in wastewater treatment and metabolic interactions in a mixed microbial community that couples autotrophic iron oxidation to nitrate reduction. The key challenge is to convert this knowledge into effective engineering and steering of the microbiome to improve microbial community functions for useful purposes. Behrens outlines the need for continuous method development for high-throughput functional screening, cultivation, and targeted genomics applications for microbiome exploration. And he discusses current projects from his research group that will meet these needs.
