SynCom101: A web-based platform for the standardized design of functionally tailored synthetic microbial communities

Abstract

BackgroundSynthetic microbial communities (SynComs) are essential tools for dissecting the causal mechanisms in host-microbiota interactions. To date, however, SynCom design suffers from a lack of standardization, typically oscillating between arbitrary strain selection and computational pipelines that misalign with experimental design. As microbiome research transitions toward functionally defined community systems with reproducible experimental outcomes, there is a strong need for a user-friendly platform that integrates multi-dimensional genomic and/or biological data into a standardized and tailored SynComs design. ResultsHere, we present SynCom101, a web-based platform that democratizes the design of reproducible, hypothesis-driven SynComs. SynCom101 accommodates diverse input formats including genomic annotations and laboratory-obtained phenotypic traits, allowing users to customize their design criteria with high flexibility. The platform utilizes a parsimony algorithm to ensure computational scalability for large datasets, complemented by an optional correlation-aware mode to account for microbial compatibility and co-occurrence patterns when ecological interactions among strains are available. A core innovation of SynCom101 is its suite of trait-weighting modules, which empowers researchers to strategically guide the selection algorithm toward maximal functional trait coverage, the emulation of natural community architectures, or the enrichment of positively correlated microbial assemblages to enhance community stability. We showcase the functionalities of the platform by in silico design of communities from different datasets, demonstrating its capacity to generate concise, functionally prioritized SynComs aligned with targeted design objectives. ConclusionBy providing a transparent, parameter-documented workflow, SynCom101 ensures that community design is no longer a "black box" but a reproducible scientific record. This platform establishes a necessary standard for in silico community assembly, facilitating the transition from descriptive microbiome studies toward high-throughput, predictive functional screening and cross-study comparability. AvailabilitySynCom101 can be accessed via the web interface (https://syncom101.bioinformatics.nl/). The datasets used for case studies are available on Zenodo (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18310451). The source code is available at Git (https://git.wur.nl/jiayi.jing/syncom101).