Heterotrophic ammonium removal characteristics of an aerobic heterotrophic nitrifying-denitrifying bacterium, Providencia rettgeri YL
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Updated: Jun 17, 2026

Measurement of the Potential Rates of Dissimilatory Nitrate Reduction to Ammonium Based on 14NH4+/15NH4+ Analyses via Sequential Conversion to N2O
Published on: October 7, 2020
Shauna M Taylor1, Yiliang He, Bin Zhao
1School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China. shauna.taylor@gmail.com
Abstract:
Bacterium Providencia rettgeri YL was found to exhibit an unusual ability to heterotrophically nitrify and aerobically denitrify various concentrations of ammonium (NH4+-N). In order to further understand its removal ability, several experiments were conducted to identify the growth and ammonium removal response at different carbon to nitrogen (C/N) mass ratios, shaking speeds, temperatures, ammonium concentrations and to qualitatively verify the production of nitrogen gas using gas chromatography techniques. Results showed that under optimum conditions (C/N 10, 30 degrees C, 120 r/min), YL can significantly remove low and high concentrations of ammonium within 12 to 48 h of growth, respectively. The nitrification products hydroxylamine (NH2OH), nitrite (NO2(-)) and nitrate (NO3(-)) as well as the denitrification product, nitrogen gas (N2), were detected under completely aerobic conditions.
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