{"id":172696,"date":"2026-01-29T07:32:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T06:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/?p=172696"},"modified":"2026-01-27T11:42:06","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T10:42:06","slug":"biofilms-at-work-what-limits-efficient-consortia-for-industrial-production","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/biofilms-at-work-what-limits-efficient-consortia-for-industrial-production\/","title":{"rendered":"Biofilms at work: what limits efficient consortia for industrial production?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

Biofilms have significant potential for value-added biosynthesis in the biotechnology industry and agriculture.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Major challenges include mass transfer limitations, genetic regulation, and scale-up.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Control of biofilm thickness and cooperative interactions in biofilms increases productive biofilm efficiency.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ecological interactions in mixed-species biofilms can be harnessed to control biofilm productivity and stability.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Monitoring and control of biofilms at microscale is needed to advance industrial applications.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biofilms with programmable traits can be designed using synthetic biology tools to overcome mass transfer limitations.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Support materials with chemically modified surfaces can improve biofilm attachment, stability, and product yield.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Figure
Figure 1\u00a0Productive biofilm processes according to the added value of the products (i.e., from clean water to specialty biochemicals) and the complexity of the microbial catalyst (single-species, engineered mixed-species biofilms, and mixed consortia). \u00a9 Nottingham Ningbo China Beacons of Excellence Research and Innovation Institute<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Abstract<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Biofilms, complex and structured microbial communities encased within extracellular polymeric substances, represent an emerging area of interest in bioprocesses for the production of value-added chemicals. The properties of biofilms offer potential benefits for productivity and cost efficiency, yet the implementation of pilot- and large-scale productive biofilm processes remains a challenge due to their structural, ecological, metabolic, and physicochemical complexities. This review analyzes the key bottlenecks that limit the application of biofilms in productive bioprocesses, including mass transfer dynamics, ecological interactions, and bioreactor inefficiencies. It also highlights case studies of biofilm-based production and outlines key design principles for next-generation bioreactors. By identifying existing knowledge gaps and technological barriers, we anticipate that this review will facilitate the application of biofilms in industrial bioprocesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.cell.com\/trends\/biotechnology\/fulltext\/S0167-7799(25)00498-6?rss=yes#f0005<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Biofilms have significant potential for value-added biosynthesis in the biotechnology industry and agriculture. Major challenges include mass transfer limitations, genetic regulation, and scale-up. Control of biofilm thickness and cooperative interactions in biofilms increases productive biofilm efficiency. Ecological interactions in mixed-species biofilms can be harnessed to control biofilm productivity and stability. Monitoring and control of biofilms […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":172698,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","nova_meta_subtitle":"Biofilms, complex and structured microbial communities encased within extracellular polymeric substances, represent an emerging area of interest in bioprocesses for the production of value-added chemicals","footnotes":""},"categories":[5572],"tags":[5838,13230,5796,10416],"supplier":[27466],"class_list":["post-172696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bio-based","tag-bioeconomy","tag-biofilms","tag-biotechnology","tag-circulareconomy","supplier-nottingham-ningbo-china-beacons-of-excellence-research-and-innovation-institute"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/114"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172696"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172696\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172696"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=172696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}