Simultaneous nitrification and denitrification without nitrite accumulation by a novel isolated Ochrobactrum anthropic LJ81

Nitrogen contaminants are widespread presence in municipal wastewater, heterotrophic nitrification and aerobic denitrification (HN-AD) bacteria have advantages of dealing with multiple nitrogen. Strain LJ81 was isolated from domestic sludge, identified as Ochrobactrum anthropic, which was oxygen-dependent and could survive in a wide range of pH values. Results showed that strain LJ81 could achieve simultaneous nitrification and denitrification (SND) under aerobic condition, whilst more than 80% of initial nitrogen was converted into gaseous nitrogen. The removal rates of ammonia increased from 3.75 to 3.85 and 5.70 mg-N L-1 h(-1) by adding nitrite and nitrate, respectively, while the nitrate denitrification was the rate-limiting step of SND process. Moreover, adding chlorate could inhibit not only the cell growth slightly but also denitrification of nitrate. All results indicated that O. anthropic strain LJ81 exhibited excellent performance on nitrogen removal without nitrite accumulation under aerobic condition.