Molecular and modeling analyses of the structure and function of nitrifying activated sludge

Rittmann, Bruce E.; Laspidou, Chrysi; Flax, Jodi; Stahl, David A.; Urbain, V.; Harduin, Hervé; Waarde, J.J. van der; Geurkink, Bert; Henssen, Maurice J. C.; Brouwer, H.; Klapwijk, A.; Wetterauw, Maarten

doi:10.2166/wst.1999.0012

Cited by 31 publications

(49 citation statements)

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“…Refinery Plant D. To determine whether the abundance of AEA in refinery plant D could be explained by autotrophic ammonia oxidation alone, we used the nitrification model developed by Rittman and colleagues (40,41), to estimate ammonia oxidizer biomass in relation to ammonia removal in wastewater-treatment reactors. To do this determination, we conservatively assumed that 20% of the ammonia was consumed by assimilation and estimated the growth yield of AEA based on the data presented by Könneke et al (2).…”

Section: Modeling the Abundance Of Ammonia-oxidizing Microorganisms Inmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This finding is not surprising given the known thermodynamic constraints on growth yields (43,44). We therefore used the same growth yield and other physiological parameters for AEA that have previously been used to estimate the abundance of AOB in WWTPs based on ammonia removal (40,41,45). The possibility that there was an additional contribution to reduced nitrogen in the system from nitrogen fixation was precluded by measurement of nitrogen fixation in sludge samples from refinery plant D by isotope ratio mass spectrometry, which proved negative (Table S3).…”

Section: Modeling the Abundance Of Ammonia-oxidizing Microorganisms Inmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Thaumarchaeotes abundant in refinery nitrifying sludges express amoA but are not obligate autotrophic ammonia oxidizers

Mußmann

Brito

Pitcher

et al. 2011

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

275

229

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Nitrification is a core process in the global nitrogen cycle that is essential for the functioning of many ecosystems. The discovery of autotrophic ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) within the phylum Thaumarchaeota has changed our perception of the microbiology of nitrification, in particular since their numerical dominance over ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) in many environments has been revealed. These and other data have led to a widely held assumption that all amoA-encoding members of the Thaumarchaeota (AEA) are autotrophic nitrifiers. In this study, 52 municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plants were screened for the presence of AEA and AOB. Thaumarchaeota carrying amoA were detected in high abundance only in four industrial plants. In one plant, thaumarchaeotes closely related to soil group I.1b outnumbered AOB up to 10,000-fold, and their numbers, which can only be explained by active growth in this continuous culture system, were two to three orders of magnitude higher than could be sustained by autotrophic ammonia oxidation. Consistently, 14 CO 2 fixation could only be detected in AOB but not in AEA in actively nitrifying sludge from this plant via FISH combined with microautoradiography. Furthermore, in situ transcription of archaeal amoA, and very weak in situ labeling of crenarchaeol after addition of 13 CO 2 , was independent of the addition of ammonium. These data demonstrate that some amoA-carrying group I.1b Thaumarchaeota are not obligate chemolithoautotrophs.heterotrophy | physiology | modeling | ammonia monooxygenase

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Section: Modeling the Abundance Of Ammonia-oxidizing Microorganisms Inmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Modeling the Abundance Of Ammonia-oxidizing Microorganisms Inmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thaumarchaeotes abundant in refinery nitrifying sludges express amoA but are not obligate autotrophic ammonia oxidizers

Mußmann

Brito

Pitcher

et al. 2011

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

275

229

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“…Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) represents the "gold standard" for quantification of specific bacterial cells in the environment, against which other methods should be compared. Classical (27) and immunological (20) methods are subject to methodological biases, while nonmicroscopic 16S rRNA-based methods (8,34) or PCR-based methods (13,14,18,19) deliver a proportion of total cell counts, copy number, or relative signal intensities rather than an absolute number of cells or biomass.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…No satisfactory explanation has been offered for this discrepancy. Rittmann et al (34) tentatively suggested that the majority of AOB were not readily detectable by FISH, possibly because most of the biomass occurred as single cells rather than in microcolonies or failed to hybridize, perhaps due to permeabilization problems.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Agreement between Theory and Measurement in Quantification of Ammonia-Oxidizing Bacteria

Coşkuner

Ballinger

Davenport

et al. 2005

Appl Environ Microbiol

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Autotrophic ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) are of vital importance to wastewater treatment plants (WWTP), as well as being an intriguing group of microorganisms in their own right. To date, corroboration of quantitative measurements of AOB by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) has relied on assessment of the ammonia oxidation rate per cell, relative to published values for cultured AOB. Validation of cell counts on the basis of substrate transformation rates is problematic, however, because published cell-specific ammonia oxidation rates vary by over two orders of magnitude. We present a method that uses FISH in conjunction with confocal scanning laser microscopy to quantify AOB in WWTP, where AOB are typically observed as microcolonies. The method is comparatively simple, requiring neither detailed cell counts or image analysis, and yet it can give estimates of either cell numbers or biomass. Microcolony volume and diameter were found to have a log-normal distribution. We were able to show that virtually all (>96%) of the AOB biomass occurred as microcolonies. Counts of microcolony abundance and measurement of their diameter coupled with a calibration of microcolony dimensions against cell numbers or AOB biomass were used to determine AOB cell numbers and biomass in WWTP. Cell-specific ammonia oxidation rates varied between plants by over three orders of magnitude, suggesting that cell-specific ammonia oxidation is an important process variable. Moreover, when measured AOB biomass was compared with process-based estimates of AOB biomass, the two values were in agreement.The quantification of microbial communities and populations is an invaluable aspect of microbial ecology. In principle, the autotrophic ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) are ideal candidates for the development of quantitative tools. AOB have a coherent phylogeny and defined nutritional requirements and are of profound practical importance in natural and engineered environments.The number of individuals should be the ideal benchmark for quantitative studies. Individual counts can be converted to biomass, biovolume, or proportion of biomass, and results obtained by more indirect methods are typically compared to the number of cells per unit volume (15). Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) represents the "gold standard" for quantification of specific bacterial cells in the environment, against which other methods should be compared. Classical (27) and immunological (20) methods are subject to methodological biases, while nonmicroscopic 16S rRNA-based methods (8, 34) or PCR-based methods (13,14,18,19) deliver a proportion of total cell counts, copy number, or relative signal intensities rather than an absolute number of cells or biomass.A quantitative method may be evaluated with respect to its precision and its accuracy. Wagner et al. (43) originally evaluated the accuracy of FISH counts of AOB by using cell specific oxidation rates, an approach previously used to show that most-probable-number-based methods underestimate AOB numbers...

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Development of a correlation to study parameters affecting nitrification in a domestic wastewater treatment plant

Coşkuner¹,

Jassim²

2007

J of Chemical Tech & Biotech

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BACKGROUND: Nitrification performance of an activated sludge reactor treating weak domestic wastewater was investigated for 11 months. Ammonia nitrogen removals were investigated as a function of wastewater composition and operational conditions. Backward elimination experimental design was used to determine the influence of the most important independent variables on NH 3 -N removal efficiencies. Influent ammonia and biological oxygen demand (BOD 5 ) concentrations, hydraulic retention time (HRT), mixed liquid suspended solids (MLSS), temperature, pH and dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration were considered as independent variables. This study aimed to find the most important parameters to describe nitrification performance.

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Molecular and modeling analyses of the structure and function of nitrifying activated sludge

Cited by 31 publications

References 0 publications

Thaumarchaeotes abundant in refinery nitrifying sludges express amoA but are not obligate autotrophic ammonia oxidizers

Thaumarchaeotes abundant in refinery nitrifying sludges express amoA but are not obligate autotrophic ammonia oxidizers

Agreement between Theory and Measurement in Quantification of Ammonia-Oxidizing Bacteria

Development of a correlation to study parameters affecting nitrification in a domestic wastewater treatment plant

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