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. 2019 Mar 20;10(1):1244.
doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-09268-w.

Nitric oxide-dependent anaerobic ammonium oxidation

Ziye Hu  1   2 , Hans J C T Wessels  3 , Theo van Alen  1 , Mike S M Jetten  1 , Boran Kartal  4   5
Affiliations

Nitric oxide-dependent anaerobic ammonium oxidation

Ziye Hu et al. Nat Commun. .

Erratum in

Abstract

Nitric oxide (NO) has important functions in biology and atmospheric chemistry as a toxin, signaling molecule, ozone depleting agent and the precursor of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O). Although NO is a potent oxidant, and was available on Earth earlier than oxygen, it is unclear whether NO can be used by microorganisms for growth. Anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing (anammox) bacteria couple nitrite reduction to ammonium oxidation with NO and hydrazine as intermediates, and produce N2 and nitrate. Here, we show that the anammox bacterium Kuenenia stuttgartiensis is able to grow in the absence of nitrite by coupling ammonium oxidation to NO reduction, and produce only N2. Under these growth conditions, the transcription of proteins necessary for NO generation is downregulated. Our work has potential implications in the control of N2O and NO emissions from natural and manmade ecosystems, where anammox bacteria contribute significantly to N2 release to the atmosphere. We hypothesize that microbial NO-dependent ammonium oxidation may have existed on early Earth.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Nitric oxide, nitrite, ammonium consumption, nitrate production, and biomass growth during reactor operation. (a) reactor I (control reactor, supplied with ammonium and nitrite), (b) reactor II (supplied with ammonium, nitrite, and NO) and (c) reactor III (supplied with ammonium and NO). Filled and empty circles indicate ammonium concentration in the influent and effluent, respectively. Empty triangles indicate nitrite concentration in the influent. Nitrite concentration in the effluent was always below detection limit. Filled triangles indicate nitrate concentration in the effluent. Cell concentration is displayed by cell numbers per ml (open squares). Nitric oxide (empty diamonds) is displayed as consumption by the bioreactors. This is calcualted from the difference between concentration of nitric oxide in the influent and effluent of the gas phase of the bioreactor. The source data underlying this figure are provided as Source Data file
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