Construction of a synthetic microbial community for the biosynthesis of volatile sulfur compound by multi-module division of labor.

3-(Methylthio)-1-propanol, reminiscent of cauliflower and cooked vegetable aroma, is an important sulfur compound in Baijiu. It is important to develop a method to increase 3-(methylthio)-1-propanol content to improve flavor quality of products. In this study, a synthetic microbial community was employed to enhance the content of 3-(methylthio)-1-propanol by multi-module division of labor approach. Firstly, the synthetic pathway of 3-(methylthio)-1-propanol was reconstructed and classified into three modules. Later, the hyper producers in each module were isolated and negative interaction between the members was relieved. Finally, a synthetic microbial community was constructed using three species containing one hyper producer from each module. Furthermore, the transcription characteristics of the species in each module were validated by metatranscriptomic analysis. The constructed synthetic microbial community can be used to biosynthesize 3-(methylthio)-1-propanol for Baijiu. This work provided a novel and workable strategy to design synthetic microbial community to enhance the flavor feature of other fermented foods.