[Identification and denitrification characteristics of a thermophilic aerobic denitrifier]

A bacterial strain TAD1 with high nitrogen removal efficiency was isolated from biofilm of the biotrickling filter of a coal-fired power plant by thermophilic domestication. This bacterium was Gram negative, short rod, with the size of (0.67-0.89) microm x (1.03-1.41) microm. It was identified as Chelatococcus sp. according to its physiological properties and the analysis of its 16S rDNA gene. Studied on its function of aerobic denitrification at the temperature of 50 degrees C, the results showed that nitrate in the culture media was efficiently removed from 63.79 mg/L to 0.46 mg/L, and the nitrogen removal efficiency was up to 99.12% in 24 hours, and no nitrite was observed during the incubation, the major end product of the denitrification was nitrogen. During the denitrification of TAD1, the pH in the culture medium gradually increases, while the oxidation-reduction potential gradually decreases. The factors affecting aerobic denitrification by strain TAD1 were also discussed, indicating that the most suitable pH value for aerobic denitrification was 7.0-9.0, and the DO was 2.1-7.2 mg/L.