Complete nitrification by Nitrospira bacteria

Holger Daims, Elena V. Lebedeva, Petra Pjevac, Ping Han, Craig Herbold, Mads Albertsen, Nico Jehmlich, Marton Palatinszky, Julia Vierheilig, Alexandr Bulaev, Rasmus H. Kirkegaard, Martin von Bergen, Thomas Rattei, Bernd Bendinger, Per H. Nielsen and Michael Wagner ()
Additional contact information
Holger Daims: University of Vienna
Elena V. Lebedeva: Winogradsky Institute of Microbiology, Research Center of Biotechnology of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Petra Pjevac: University of Vienna
Ping Han: University of Vienna
Craig Herbold: University of Vienna
Mads Albertsen: Center for Microbial Communities, Aalborg University
Nico Jehmlich: Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ
Marton Palatinszky: University of Vienna
Julia Vierheilig: University of Vienna
Alexandr Bulaev: Winogradsky Institute of Microbiology, Research Center of Biotechnology of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Rasmus H. Kirkegaard: Center for Microbial Communities, Aalborg University
Martin von Bergen: Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ
Thomas Rattei: University of Vienna
Bernd Bendinger: DVGW-Forschungsstelle TUHH, Hamburg University of Technology
Per H. Nielsen: Center for Microbial Communities, Aalborg University
Michael Wagner: University of Vienna

Nature, 2015, vol. 528, issue 7583, 504-509

Abstract: Abstract Nitrification, the oxidation of ammonia via nitrite to nitrate, has always been considered to be a two-step process catalysed by chemolithoautotrophic microorganisms oxidizing either ammonia or nitrite. No known nitrifier carries out both steps, although complete nitrification should be energetically advantageous. This functional separation has puzzled microbiologists for a century. Here we report on the discovery and cultivation of a completely nitrifying bacterium from the genus Nitrospira, a globally distributed group of nitrite oxidizers. The genome of this chemolithoautotrophic organism encodes the pathways both for ammonia and nitrite oxidation, which are concomitantly activated during growth by ammonia oxidation to nitrate. Genes affiliated with the phylogenetically distinct ammonia monooxygenase and hydroxylamine dehydrogenase genes of Nitrospira are present in many environments and were retrieved on Nitrospira-contigs in new metagenomes from engineered systems. These findings fundamentally change our picture of nitrification and point to completely nitrifying Nitrospira as key components of nitrogen-cycling microbial communities.

Date: 2015
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DOI: 10.1038/nature16461

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