Anammox, an abbreviation for ANaerobic AMMonium OXidation, is a globally important microbial process of the nitrogen cycle . The bacteria mediating this process were identified in 1999, and at the time were a great surprise for the scientific community . It takes place in many natural environments and anammox is also the trademarked name for an ammonium removal technology that was developed by the Delft University of Technology.
In this biologica...
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Anammox, an abbreviation for ANaerobic AMMonium OXidation, is a globally important microbial process of the nitrogen cycle . The bacteria mediating this process were identified in 1999, and at the time were a great surprise for the scientific community . It takes place in many natural environments and anammox is also the trademarked name for an ammonium removal technology that was developed by the Delft University of Technology.
In this biological process, nitrite and ammonium are converted directly into dinitrogen gas. This process contributes up to 50% of the dinitrogen gas produced in the oceans. It is thus a major sink for fixed nitrogen and so limits oceanic primary productivity. The overall catabolic reaction is:
The bacteria that perform the anammox process belong to the bacterial phylum Planctomycetes, of which Planctomyces and Pirellula are the best known genera. Currently four genera of anammox bacteria have been (provisionally) defined: Brocadia, Kuenenia, Anammoxoglobus,...
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