Liu Yantong, Zhou Mingda, Liu Jiawei, Wang Han, Li Zibin, Wang Yayi
State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China.
Bioprocess Biosyst Eng. 2025 Jul 22. doi: 10.1007/s00449-025-03210-9.
Anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing (anammox) bacteria play a crucial role in biogeochemical nitrogen cycling and have been applied to wastewater treatment as a revolutionary nitrogen removal technology. Despite the successful application of anammox technology in engineering, our understanding of anammox bacteria in terms of their physiological and biochemical characteristics remains the tip of the iceberg, and challenges mainly arise from their slow growth rates and the absence of pure cultures. The development of enrichment cultures, particularly through membrane bioreactors, is important in addressing these challenges. In this review, we highlight the key factors that are vital for optimizing planktonic cell growth and preventing cell aggregation, i.e., calcium and magnesium concentration, oxygen level, and solids retention time, and propose the involved regulation strategies which help improve our understanding of the ecology of anammox bacteria and their competitive advantages, particularly in nitrogen-limited environments. Then, insights into the unique cellular structures of anammox bacteria (including anammoxosome and their distinct lipid membranes) and the complex metabolic pathways involving unique nitrogen intermediates were discussed, partially based on anammox planktonic cells. Finally, recent advances pertaining to non-traditional growth conditions and novel applications, such as ladderane lipid biosynthesis, extracellular polymeric substance production, and electro-anammox processes are discussed, underscoring their potential in innovative bioresource utilization beyond wastewater treatment. This review provides an in-depth understanding of planktonic cultivation techniques, growth dynamics, and biochemical characteristics of anammox bacteria, and highlights promising avenues for future research and application of valuable anammox bacteria resources, propelling their application in both ecological and engineered systems.
厌氧氨氧化细菌在生物地球化学氮循环中发挥着关键作用，并已作为一种革命性的脱氮技术应用于废水处理。尽管厌氧氨氧化技术在工程中得到了成功应用，但我们对厌氧氨氧化细菌生理生化特性的了解仍只是冰山一角，挑战主要源于其生长速率缓慢以及缺乏纯培养物。富集培养物的开发，特别是通过膜生物反应器进行开发，对于应对这些挑战至关重要。在本综述中，我们强调了对于优化浮游细胞生长和防止细胞聚集至关重要的关键因素，即钙和镁浓度、氧水平以及固体停留时间，并提出了相关的调控策略，这有助于增进我们对厌氧氨氧化细菌生态学及其竞争优势的理解，特别是在氮限制环境中的优势。然后，我们讨论了对厌氧氨氧化细菌独特细胞结构（包括厌氧氨氧化体及其独特的脂质膜）以及涉及独特氮中间体的复杂代谢途径的见解，部分基于厌氧氨氧化浮游细胞。最后，讨论了与非传统生长条件和新应用相关的最新进展，如梯烷脂质生物合成、胞外聚合物生产和电厌氧氨氧化过程，强调了它们在废水处理之外的创新生物资源利用方面的潜力。本综述深入介绍了厌氧氨氧化细菌的浮游培养技术、生长动力学和生化特性，并突出了未来对有价值的厌氧氨氧化细菌资源进行研究和应用的有前景途径，推动其在生态系统和工程系统中的应用。
