Identification of anammox bacteria in a full-scale deammonification plant making use of anaerobic ammonia oxidation

The existence of anaerobic ammonia-oxidizing (anammox) bacteria was postulated in the late 1970s. Approximately 20 years later, these lithotrophic members of the nitrogen cycle were identified as deep-branching members of the planctomycetes. Recently, full-scale implementation of biological deammonification was successfully achieved in the DEMON® reactor at the wastewater treatment plant in Strass, Austria. The sludge of this reactor contains red granules and brownish flocs that can be physically separated. The two fractions yielded different banding patterns in denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis of PCR products obtained with primer sets targeting the 16S rRNA genes of planctomycetes. Comparative analysis of partial sequences of almost full-length 16S rRNA gene clones obtained from the granules and flocs confirms the differences in the community composition of the two fractions. The sequences retrieved from the red granules were 93% similar to those of Candidatus Brocadia anammoxidans, a bacterium known to catalyze the anaerobic ammonia oxidation.