COSMOS predicted that a co-culture of Shewanella oneidensis and Klebsiella pneumoniae produce 1,3-propanediol – a key chemical for plastics – more efficiently than either species alone.
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valiantsin suprunovich
Scientists at IIT Madras have developed a computational tool that could reshape how industries harness microbes for sustainable production. The system, called COSMOS (Community and Single Microbe Optimisation System), uses simulations to determine whether a single microbe or a carefully engineered community will yield better results for biomanufacturing.
COSMOS predicted that a co-culture of Shewanella oneidensis and Klebsiella pneumoniae produce 1,3-propanediol – a key chemical for plastics – more efficiently than either species alone. The prediction aligns with experimental results, demonstrating the system’s potential to guide real-world microbial design. The 1,3-propanediol (PDO) is a sought-after industrial chemical because it serves as a building block for high-performance plastics and fibres.
Its main use is in producing polytrimethylene terephthalate (PTT), a polyester valued in textiles, carpets, and engineering plastics for its strength, elasticity, and stain resistance. PDO also feeds into polyurethane foams, coatings, and adhesives, as well as cosmetics and solvents. Importantly, when produced from renewable feedstocks such as corn sugar or glycerol, PDO offers a sustainable alternative to petroleum-based glycols, aligning with the push for greener materials.
The stakes are high. Bioprocessing underpins the emerging bioeconomy, converting agricultural waste, wastewater, and other renewable resources into valuable outputs such as biofuels, pharmaceuticals, and bioplastics. Companies must constantly decide whether to rely on monocultures, which are simple to manage but prone to productivity limits, or communities, which can cooperate metabolically but require careful optimisation. COSMOS tackles this trade-off directly, offering a way to virtually “test-drive” microbial strategies, before investing in costly lab trials.
Not just a filter
The framework doesn’t only highlight when communities outperform monocultures, it also reveals cases where sticking with a single microbe is smarter. That insight could save businesses both time and money, avoiding unnecessary complexity when gains are marginal. By simulating different feedstocks, oxygen conditions, and inoculum ratios, COSMOS helps companies tailor processes to specific industrial contexts.
Biofuel producers could screen which microbes thrive on crop residues; pharmaceutical firms could design consortia for complex drug precursors; and materials companies could find the most efficient path to bioplastics. At a time when industries are under mounting pressure to decarbonise, the ability to optimise microbial manufacturing in silico offers both a scientific and competitive edge.
Though the model still relies on generalised parameters and cannot yet capture every strain-specific detail, its validation against lab data shows it can reliably capture performance trends. That makes COSMOS less a replacement for experiments than a powerful filter, one that narrows the field to the most promising candidates for industrial testing.
Published on September 5, 2025