File:Selection of microbial consortia for keratin degradation.jpg

English: Workflow of enrichment and dilution-to-extinction cultures to select simplified microbial consortia (SMC) for keratin degradation. This workflow includes four steps: (1) Enrichment for the desired traits e.g., keratinolytic activity by selection in keratin medium, where keratin is the sole carbon source. This process was evaluated by functional assessments (cell density, enzymes activity, and ratio of the residual substrate) and compositional analysis. (2) Serial dilutions were conducted to the enriched effective microbial consortia. Six dilutions were prepared, from dilution 10^2 to 10^10 with 24 replicates. The dissimilarity between dilutions was evaluated by Euclidean distance calculation based on functional assessment criteria. (3) Library construction was done from the dilution offering the optimal dissimilarity among replicates. Dilution 10^9 was selected to construct the SMC library in this case. (4) Selection of the most promising SMC is based on functional and compositional characterization.