Research progress and prospects of complete ammonia oxidizing bacteria in wastewater treatment
Shaoping Luo1, Yi Peng2, Ying Liu3, Yongzhen Peng1()
1. National Engineering Laboratory for Advanced Municipal Wastewater Treatment and Reuse Technology, Engineering Research Center of Beijing, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China 2. Xinkai Water Environmental Investment Co. Ltd., Beijing 101101, China 3. Zhongshan Public Utilities Water Co. Ltd., Zhongshan 528400, China
• Comammox bacteria have unique physiological characteristics.
• Comammox bacteria are widely distributed in natural and artificial systems.
• Comammox bacteria have the potential to reduce N2O emissions.
• Coupling comammox bacteria with DEAMOX can be promoted in wastewater treatment.
• Comammox bacteria have significant potential for enhancing total nitrogen removal.
Complete ammonia oxidizing bacteria, or comammox bacteria (CAOB), can oxidize ammonium to nitrate on its own. Its discovery revolutionized our understanding of biological nitrification, and its distribution in both natural and artificial systems has enabled a reevaluation of the relative contribution of microorganisms to the nitrogen cycle. Its wide distribution, adaptation to oligotrophic medium, and diverse metabolic pathways, means extensive research on CAOB and its application in water treatment can be promoted. Furthermore, the energy-saving characteristics of high oxygen affinity and low sludge production may also become frontier directions for wastewater treatment. This paper provides an overview of the discovery and environmental distribution of CAOB, as well as the physiological characteristics of the microorganisms, such as nutrient medium, environmental factors, enzymes, and metabolism, focusing on future research and the application of CAOB in wastewater treatment. Further research should be carried out on the physiological characteristics of CAOB, to analyze its ecological niche and impact factors, and explore its application potential in wastewater treatment nitrogen cycle improvement.
The abundance of comammox bacteria in the atmosphere is less than AOA and greater than AOB.
Gao et al., 2016
Forest soil, lake sediments, freshwater organisms, etc.
Austria; Netherlands
/
Metagenome
A PCR primer set was developed specifically for the subunit amoA gene encoding the unique amoA of comammox bacteria.
Pjevac et al., 2017
Forest soil
China
/
qPCR
The abundance of comammox bacteria is very high. When the pH is 4.0–9.0, the abundance exceeds AOB and NOB.
Hu and He, 2017
Sediments from the Yangtze River Estuary
China
N. inopinata N. nitrosa N. nitrificans
Metagenome; Macrotranscriptome; qPCR
The presence of comammox bacteria was detected, and a primer set for clade A was designed to quantitatively detect the amoA gene of comammox bacteria.
Yu et al., 2018
Riparian soil
China
N. nitrosa N. nitrificans
qPCR; Correlation analysis
The microbial abundance of comammox in the riparian soil was 108 copies/g, and the abundance of comammox and Nitrospira was significantly correlated under certain conditions.
Wang et al, 2019
Tab.1
Growth environment
Country
Species
Research method
Key finding
Reference
Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs)
China
N. inopinata
Metagenome; 16S rRNA
Comammox bacteria abundance accounts for≤0.1%. It is speculated that the contribution of comammox bacteria nitrification is small in the sewage treatment process.
Chao et al., 2016
Drinking water systems
Singapore; China; United States
N. inopinata N. nitrosa N. nitrificans
Metagenome
Comammox bacteria are widely distributed in drinking water systems and coexist with traditional AOM. The nitrification of drinking water systems may be mainly completed by comammox bacteria.
Wang et al., 2017
WWTPs
United States
N. nitrosa
Metagenome
To achieve enrichment of Ca. N. nitrosa, it has a higher affinity for urea.
Kits et al., 2017
WWTPs
United States United Kingdom
N. inopinata N. nitrosa N. nitrificans
Metagenome; qPCR
A primer set and qPCR targeting clade A were designed; comammox bacteria prefer long sludge age and attached growth, and the increase in abundance in the same habitat has no correlation with the decrease in AOB and NOB abundance.
Camejo et al., 2017
Urban lake
China
/
16S rRNA
Comammox bacteria are widely distributed in urban lakes, eutrophication may inhibit its growth.
Xu et al., 2020
Acidic soils
Japan
/
16S rRNA
When the pH is 3–4, nitrification activity of comammox bacteria is still detected.
Takahashi et al., 2020
A continuous membrane bioreactor
Netherlands
N. Kreftii
FISH; Metagenome;
They obtained a novel comammox bacteria species, Ca. N. kreftti. Moreover, they think differences in ammonium tolerance could potentially be a niche-determining factor for different comammox Nitrospira.
Sakoula et al., 2021
Lab-scale PN/A SBR Reactor
China
/
16S rRNA qPCR
The amoA gene of comammox bacteria in the PN/A system that has been running stably for more than 1,000 days accounted for 89.2±7.9%, achieving synergistic denitrification under hypoxic conditions.
Shao and Wu, 2021
Aquaponic system
Germany
/
16S rRNA
Comammox bacteria are found in the high-efficiency aquaponic symbiosis system, which participate in the removal of NH4+-N at low steady-state NH4+-N concentrations.
Heise et al., 2021
Tab.2
Fig.2
Fig.3
Fig.4
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