In Nature, the recycling of lignocellulose is performed by LC-utilizing microorganisms present in soils and in the guts of animals where complex microbial consortia are responsible of recycling plant organic matter. Such microbial consortia, constituted by different microorganisms, including fungi, bacteria and archaea acting synergistically, are involved in LC degradation. The capacity to degrade lignocellulose of a large variety of pure strains of fungi and bacteria has been abundantly documented. Similarly, a strong research effort has been realised on enzyme production using some of these pure strains. In contrast, the natural processes that govern lignocellulose deconstruction by mixed microbial communities are not completely understood.
In recent years, the study of co-cultures and microbial mixed cultures has attracted much interest to exploit the potential of multi-species ecosystems in order to develop new strategies for LC bioconversion. Furthermore, simplified and engineered microbial consortia are very interesting models to identify the role and interactions of the community members and, to understand the relationship existing between the LC composition and the microbial community. Such information is essential to understand the mechanisms governing lignocellulose deconstruction. Here, we review and critically discuss the main approaches and findings on microbial consortia utilisation for lignocellulose transformation for biotechnological applications.