Bacterial Cellulose Production in Co-Culture Systems: Opportunities, Challenges, and Future Directions

Bacterial cellulose (BC), a nanostructured biopolymer produced by Komagateibacter spp., exhibits remarkable mechanical strength, purity, and biocompatibility, making it highly attractive for applications in biomedicine, food, and sustainable materials. Despite its potential, monoculture fermentation suffers from low yield and limited scalability. This review highlights the innovative application of co-culture fermentations as a novel strategy, where Komagataeibacter is paired with complementary microorganisms such as yeasts, lactic acid bacteria, and photosynthetic microbes. This approach has emerged as a promising solution to overcome the limitations of monoculture by enhancing BC productivity, tailoring material properties, and improving sustainability. We explore the synergistic interactions within co-cultures, including metabolic cross-feeding and in situ polymer integration, while also addressing critical challenges such as microbial stability and operational complexity. Unlike previous reviews focused primarily on BC biosynthesis, applications, or genetic engineering, this article emphasizes co-culture fermentation with Komagataeibacter as a novel and underexplored strategy to improve the yield, functionality, and scalability of BC production.