The selective control of microbial growth in complex communities: from functional foods and colonic bacteria to bacteriophage and wastewater foaming — ASN Events
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The selective control of microbial growth in complex communities: from functional foods and colonic bacteria to bacteriophage and wastewater foaming (#31)

Suryani Tan 1 2 3 , Thusitha W.T Rupasinghe 1 4 , Dedreia L Tull 1 4 , Berin Boughton 4 5 , Christine Oliver 3 , Chris McSweeney 6 , Mary Ann Augustin 3 , Konrad Krysiak-Baltyn 1 2 , Anthony D Stickland 2 , Peter J Scales 2 , Greg J.O Martin 2 7 , Sally L Gras 1 2 7
  1. Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, Parkville, VIC, Australia
  2. Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
  3. CSIRO Food and Nutrition Flagship, Werribee, VIC, Australia
  4. Metabolomics Australia, Australia
  5. School of Botany, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
  6. CSIRO Agriculture Flagship, St. Lucia, QLD, Australia
  7. The ARC Dairy Innovation Hub, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

We are interested in two applications where external agents can potentially be used to promote or inhibit the growth of microbes in complex communities.
In the human colon, functional foods may alter the growth and metabolism of bacteria impacting positively on health. Three polyphenolic compounds from turmeric, known as the curcuminoids, are thought to have health benefits [1] but their action on colonic bacteria is poorly understood. We have applied Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry to probe these interactions using a simplified in vitro system of bacteria (Escherichia fergusonii (ATCC 35469) and Escherichia coli strains (ATCC 8739 and DH10B)) or human fecal slurries. Varying amounts of the three curcuminoids were converted following 36 h of fermentation, depending on the bacterial strain and medium used and three metabolites and an additional curcumin adduct identified. This study provides insights into the bacterial metabolism of curcuminoids [2] and the analytical methods developed [3] will assist future studies of the metabolic pathways for these and structurally similar polyphenols.

In wastewater treatment plants, problematic bacteria can cause foaming that reduces operational efficiencies and causes health and safety problems [4]. We are examining the potential use of bacteriophage to reduce the population of these bacteria. Our approach includes a model that pairs the dynamics of wastewater treatment processes from existing models in GPS-X software together with a newly developed add-on describing bacteriophage dynamics. The model examines the effect of bacteriophage addition on a complex wastewater treatment system and provides insights into the timeframes of bacterial population decay and need for additional phage dosing depending on phage properties [5].

  1. Joe, B. et al., Biological properties of curcumin-cellular and molecular mechanisms of action, Crit. Rev. Food Sci. Nutr. 2004, 44, 97−111.
  2. Tan S., et al., Degradation of Curcuminoids by in Vitro Pure Culture Fermentation, J. Agric. Food Chem., 2014, 62 (45), 11005–11015.
  3. Tan S., et al., Liquid–liquid extraction and liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry detection of curcuminoids from bacterial culture medium, Journal of Chromatography B, 2015, 988, 116–120.
  4. Thomas, J.A. et al., Fighting foam with phages? Water Science & Technology, 2002, 46(1-2), 511-553.
  5. Krysiak-Baltyn K. et al., Simulation of phage dynamics in complex wastewater treatment systems, submitted to Water Science and Technology.
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