Characterization of the facultative anaerobic Pseudomonas stutzeri strain HK13 to achieve efficient nitrate and nitrite removal

Anthropogenic addition of bioavailable nitrogen to the biosphere is increasing and terrestrial ecosystems are becoming increasingly nitrogen-saturated, causing more bioavailable nitrogen to enter groundwater and surface waters. Large-scale nitrogen budgets show that an average of about 20-25 per cent of the nitrogen added to the biosphere is exported from rivers to the ocean or inland basins, indicating that substantial sinks for nitrogen must exist in the landscape. Streams and rivers may themselves be important sinks for bioavailable nitrogen owing to their hydrological connections with terrestrial systems, high rates of biological activity, and streambed sediment environments that favour microbial denitrification. Here we present data from nitrogen stable isotope tracer experiments across 72 streams and 8 regions representing several biomes. We show that total biotic uptake and denitrification of nitrate increase with stream nitrate concentration, but that the efficiency of biotic uptake and denitrification declines as concentration increases, reducing the proportion of in-stream nitrate that is removed from transport. Our data suggest that the total uptake of nitrate is related to ecosystem photosynthesis and that denitrification is related to ecosystem respiration. In addition, we use a stream network model to demonstrate that excess nitrate in streams elicits a disproportionate increase in the fraction of nitrate that is exported to receiving waters and reduces the relative role of small versus large streams as nitrate sinks.

Alcaligenes faecalis no. 4 has heterotrophic nitrification and aerobic denitrification abilities. By taking the nitrogen balance under different culture conditions, 40-50% of removed NH4+-N was denitrified and about one-half of removed NH4+-N was converted to intracellular nitrogen. The maximum ammonium removal rate of no. 4 (28.9 mg-N/l/h) and its denitrification rate at high-strength NH4+-N of about 1200 ppm in aerated batch experiments at a C/N ratio of 10 were 5-40 times higher than those of other bacteria with the same ability. Only a few percent of the removed ammonium was converted to nitrite, and the main denitrification process was speculated to be via hydroxylamine which was produced by ammonium oxidation.