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Anammox bacteria: from discovery to application

Nature Reviews Microbiology volume 6, pages 320–326 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) bacteria, which were discovered in waste-water sludge in the early 1990s, have the unique metabolic ability to combine ammonium and nitrite or nitrate to form nitrogen gas. This discovery led to the realization that a substantial part of the enormous nitrogen losses that are observed in the marine environment — up to 50% of the total nitrogen turnover — were due to the activity of these bacteria. In this Timeline, Gijs Kuenen recalls the discovery of these unique microorganisms and describes the continuing elucidation of their roles in environmental and industrial microbiology.

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Figure 1: Ammonium concentration of the influent and effluent from an anoxic denitrifying pilot reactor as a function of time.
Figure 2: Transmission electron micrograph of a Candidatus Kuenenia stuttgartiensis cell.
Figure 3: Hypothetical catabolism and reversed electron transport in the anammoxosome.
Figure 4: A 16s ribosomal RNA-gene-based phylogenetic tree of anammox bacteria.
Figure 5: Interaction and competition among aerobic and anaerobic nitrifiers.

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Acknowledgements

The author thanks M. Strous and M. Jetten for comments on the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. J. Gijs Kuenen is at the Department of Biotechnology, Delft University of Technology, Julianalaan 67, 2628 BC, Delft, The Netherlands. j.g.kuenen@tudelft.nl,

    J. Gijs Kuenen

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DATABASES

Entrez Genome Project

Candidatus Brocadia anammoxidans

Candidatus Kuenenia stuttgartiensis

Nitrosomonas eutropha

FURTHER INFORMATION

J. Gijs Kuenen's homepage

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Kuenen, J. Anammox bacteria: from discovery to application. Nat Rev Microbiol 6, 320–326 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro1857

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