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Updated: Mar 14, 2026

Estimating Sediment Denitrification Rates Using Cores and N2O Microsensors
Published on: December 6, 2018
Drivers of nitrous oxide accumulation in denitrification biofilters with low carbon:nitrogen ratios
Yan Zhang1, Guodong Ji1, Rongjing Wang1
1Key Laboratory of Water and Sediment Sciences, Ministry of Education, Department of Environmental Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China.
Abstract:
Heterotrophic denitrification is usually inhibited by insufficient carbon sources; however, the underlying mechanisms responsible for nitrous oxide (N2O) accumulation within denitrification at low carbon:nitrogen (C/N) ratios have not been quantified from a molecular level. In this study, five denitrification biofilters were developed and exhibited efficiency (total nitrogen: 18.5%-92.2%; nitrate nitrogen: 42.9%-99.5%; chemical oxygen demand: 50.5%-93.7%) in remediating micro-polluted water with C/N ratios ranging between 0.65 and 3.0. A combined analysis revealed that the coupling of anaerobic ammonium oxidation (ANAMMOX) and denitrification accounted for N2O accumulation in the biofilters, and the key drivers of the N2O accumulation rates were qnorB/nirK, nosZ/(narG + napA), amx/(nirS + nirK), narG/bacteria and qnorB/bacteria. Our study demonstrated that genetic association was indicative of microbial processes relative to nitrogen cycling and reflected N2O flux within denitrification biofilters at low C/N ratios.
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