SEMINAR

Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) is a microbial process where NH₄⁺ is anaerobically oxidized to N₂ gas via hydrazine (N₂H₄) with NO₂^– as an electron acceptor. This microbial process is mediated by anammox bacteria affiliated with a monophyletic group in the phylum Planctomycetes. The anammox bacteria have been detected from various natural and engineered environments and known to contribute significantly to the global nitrogen cycle. Furthermore, the application to wastewater treatment attracts considerable attentions. However, the anammox bacteria have not been cultivated yet as pure culture; thus, ecophysiology and biochemistry of anammox bacteria are not well understood. We successfully enriched four anammox bacteria strains in our lab and analyzed their meta-genomics, which allow us to investigate their unrevealed ecophysiology. Recent data we have obtained after a long and hard struggle will be presented.