Simultaneous Nitrite-Dependent Anaerobic Methane and Ammonium Oxidation Processes

Simultaneous Nitrite-Dependent Anaerobic Methane and Ammonium Oxidation Processes

Luesken, F.A.
Sánchez, J.
Van Alen, T.A.
Sanabria, J.
Op den Camp, H.J.
Jetten, M.S.
Kartal, B.

Applied Sciences

Biotechnology

2011-08-12

itrite-dependent anaerobic oxidation of methane (n-damo) and ammonium (anammox) are two recently discovered processes in the nitrogen cycle that are catalyzed by n-damo bacteria, including "Candidatus Methylomirabilis oxyfera," and anammox bacteria, respectively. The feasibility of coculturing anammox and n-damo bacteria is important for implementation in wastewater treatment systems that contain substantial amounts of both methane and ammonium. Here we tested this possible coexistence experimentally. To obtain such a coculture, ammonium was fed to a stable enrichment culture of n-damo bacteria that still contained some residual anammox bacteria. The ammonium supplied to the reactor was consumed rapidly and could be gradually increased from 1 to 20 mM/day. The enriched coculture was monitored by fluorescence in situ hybridization and 16S rRNA and pmoA gene clone libraries and activity measurements. After 161 days, a coculture with about equal amounts of n-damo and anammox bacteria was established that converted nitrite at a rate of 0.1 kg-N/m(3)/day (17.2 mmol day(-1)). This indicated that the application of such a coculture for nitrogen removal may be feasible in the near future.

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:8eeb5fbc-555d-4850-b2d9-b665a74bce49

https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.05539-11

American Society for Microbiology

1098-5336

APPLIED AND ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY, Oct. 2011, p. 6802–6807

Institutional Repository

journal article

© 2011 American Society for Microbiology