Background:

Microbial consortia have ecological and biotechnological importance since they contribute to the biogeochemical cycles in nature and produce compounds of high economical value.

Goals:

Research for this paper involved the polyphasic study of a photosynthetic microbial consortium (MC) in order to identify the microorganisms that comprise it, in addition to exploring the theory of the biotechnological potential of each partner within the consortium.

Methods:

Study of morphological and phylogenetic diversity.

Results:

Twenty-one different microorganisms were identified that make up the MC belonging to the phyla Proteobacteria (Rhodobacter sp., Devosia insulae, Pedomicrobium americanum, Alpha proteobacteria, Aquaspirillum delicatum, Methylibium petroleiphilum and Nannocystis sp.), Bacteriodetes (Flavobacterium sp. and Flavobacterium aquatile), Cyanobacteria (Aphanizomenon aphanizomenoides, Leptolyngbya sp. and Anabaena oscillarioides), Chlorophyta (Monoraphidium sp. and Chlorella sp.), Heterokontophyta (Cyclotella meneghiniana, Melosira varians, Cocconeis placentula, Achnanthidium chlidanos, Navicula radiosa, Fragilaria ulna and Nitzschia sp.). This microbial consortium was shown to have a high capacity for nitrogen fixation (10,294 nmol ethylene g-1 dry weight h-1).

Conclusions:

The identification of microorganisms that form the MC and their capacity for growth and nitrogen fixation in a photobioreactor, give us a glimpse of their possible biotechnological application as a biofertilizer.