Extracellular electron transfer-dependent anaerobic oxidation of ammonium by anammox bacteria
Type
ArticleAuthors
Shaw, Dario R.Ali, Muhammad
Katuri, Krishna
Gralnick, Jeffrey A.

Reimann, Joachim
Mesman, Rob

van Niftrik, Laura

Jetten, Mike S. M.
Saikaly, Pascal

KAUST Department
Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering (BESE) DivisionEnvironmental Biotechnology Research Group
Environmental Science and Engineering Program
Water Desalination and Reuse Center (WDRC), Biological and Environmental Science & Engineering (BESE) Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia.
Water Desalination and Reuse Research Center (WDRC)
KAUST Grant Number
FCC/1/1971-33-01Date
2020-04-28Online Publication Date
2020-04-28Print Publication Date
2020-12Submitted Date
2019-12-11Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/662678
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) bacteria contribute significantly to the global nitrogen cycle and play a major role in sustainable wastewater treatment. Anammox bacteria convert ammonium (NH4+) to dinitrogen gas (N2) using intracellular electron acceptors such as nitrite (NO2−) or nitric oxide (NO). However, it is still unknown whether anammox bacteria have extracellular electron transfer (EET) capability with transfer of electrons to insoluble extracellular electron acceptors. Here we show that freshwater and marine anammox bacteria couple the oxidation of NH4+ with transfer of electrons to insoluble extracellular electron acceptors such as graphene oxide or electrodes in microbial electrolysis cells. 15N-labeling experiments revealed that NH4+ was oxidized to N2 via hydroxylamine (NH2OH) as intermediate, and comparative transcriptomics analysis revealed an alternative pathway for NH4+ oxidation with electrode as electron acceptor. Complete NH4+ oxidation to N2 without accumulation of NO2− and NO3− was achieved in EET-dependent anammox. These findings are promising in the context of implementing EET-dependent anammox process for energy-efficient treatment of nitrogen.Citation
Shaw, D. R., Ali, M., Katuri, K. P., Gralnick, J. A., Reimann, J., Mesman, R., … Saikaly, P. E. (2020). Extracellular electron transfer-dependent anaerobic oxidation of ammonium by anammox bacteria. Nature Communications, 11(1). doi:10.1038/s41467-020-16016-ySponsors
This work was supported by Center Competitive Funding Program (FCC/1/1971-33-01) to P.E.S. from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). M.S.M.J. was supported by ERC AG 232937 and 339880 and SIAM OCW/NWO 024002002.Publisher
Springer NatureJournal
Nature CommunicationsAdditional Links
http://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-16016-yhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-16016-y.pdf
Relations
Is Supplemented By:- [Bioproject]
Title: Electrode-dependent anaerobic ammonium oxidation by anammox bacteria. Publication Date: 2019-02-20. bioproject: PRJNA517785 Handle: 10754/666496 - [Software]
Title: DarioRShaw/Electro-anammox: Metagenomics and trasncriptomics analysis of anodic biofilms of anammox bacteria that perform electrode-dependent anaerobic ammonium oxidation. Publication Date: 2019-01-31. github: DarioRShaw/Electro-anammox Handle: 10754/667869
ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1038/s41467-020-16016-y