Microbial syntrophy - when microbes must get along to grow

We usually think of microbes as one species at a time. A good example of this is a single strain on a petri plate. On a petri dish, we do not see the interactions that occur among microbes in the wild environment including soils, waters, and wastewater treatment plants. Some organisms require interactions with other species for growth. This symbiotic relationship, or syntrophy, is where one organisms by-products or waste fuels the other organisms growth. The reduction in by-products allows the first organism to continue to grow as the byproducts are often inhibitory to initial metabolic steps. One well known example is among ammonia oxidizing, nitrite oxidizing, an denitrifying bacteria.