TY - JOUR T1 - Exploring the interaction network of a synthetic gut bacterial community JF - bioRxiv DO - 10.1101/2021.02.25.432904 SP - 2021.02.25.432904 AU - Anna S. Weiss AU - Anna G. Burrichter AU - Abilash Chakravarthy Durai Raj AU - Alexandra von Strempel AU - Chen Meng AU - Karin Kleigrewe AU - Philipp C. Münch AU - Luis Rössler AU - Claudia Huber AU - Wolfgang Eisenreich AU - Lara M. Jochum AU - Stephanie Göing AU - Kirsten Jung AU - Alvaro Sanchez AU - Bärbel Stecher Y1 - 2021/01/01 UR - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/02/26/2021.02.25.432904.abstract N2 - A key challenge in microbiome research is to predict functionality from microbial community composition. As central microbiota functions are determined by bacterial community networks it is important to gain insight into the principles that govern bacteria-bacteria interactions. Here, we focused on growth and metabolic interactions of the Oligo-Mouse-Microbiota (OMM12) synthetic bacterial community, which is increasingly used as model system in gut microbiome research. Using a bottom-up approach, we uncovered the directionality of strain-strain interactions in mono- and pairwise co-culture experiments, as well as in community batch culture. Metabolomics analysis of spent culture supernatant of individual strains in combination with genome-informed pathway reconstruction provided insights into the metabolic potential of the individual community members. Thereby, we could show that the OMM12 interaction network is shaped by both, exploitative and interference competition in vitro. In particular, Enterococcus faecalis KB1 was identified as important driver of community composition by affecting the abundance of several other consortium members. Together, this study gives fundamental insight into key drivers and mechanistic basis of the OMM12 interaction network, which serves as knowledge base for future mechanistic studies.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest. ER -