Synthetic microbial communities (SynComs) of the human gut: design, assembly, and applications

The human gut harbors native microbial communities, forming a highly complex ecosystem. Synthetic microbial communities (SynComs) of the human gut are an assembly of microorganisms isolated from human mucosa or fecal samples. In recent decades, the ever-expanding culturing capacity and affordable sequencing, together with advanced computational modeling, started a ''golden age'' for harnessing the beneficial potential of SynComs to fight gastrointestinal disorders, such as infections and chronic inflammatory bowel diseases. As simplified and completely defined microbiota, SynComs offer a promising reductionist approach to understanding the multispecies and multikingdom interactions in the microbe-host-immune axis. However, there are still many challenges to overcome before we can precisely construct SynComs of designed function and efficacy that allow the translation of scientific findings to patients' treatments. Here, we discussed the strategies used to design, assemble, and test a SynCom, and address the significant challenges, which are of microbiological, engineering, and translational nature, that stand in the way of using SynComs as live bacterial therapeutics. Artificial human gut microbiota (synthetic microbial communities or SynComs) are assembled from microorganisms isolated from humans. SynComs offer a simplified model to study microbiome-host interactions. However, challenges remain in precisely constructing SynComs of designed functions and testing their functions. Here, strategies for designing, assembling, and testing SynComs are summarized, and the microbiological, engineering, and translational challenges are discussed.

Automated summary

The human gut harbors complex microbial communities, and synthetic microbial communities (SynComs) assembled from microorganisms isolated from humans offer a promising approach to understand microbiome-host interactions. However, challenges remain in constructing and testing SynComs of designed functions, which need to be addressed before translating scientific findings to patient treatments.