Denitrification as an N₂O sink

The strong greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N₂O) can be emitted from wastewater treatment systems as a byproduct of ammonium oxidation and as the last intermediate in the stepwise reduction of nitrate to N₂ by denitrifying organisms. A potential strategy to reduce N₂O emissions would be to enhance the activity of...

O₂ versus N₂O respiration in a continuous microbial enrichment

Despite its ecological importance, essential aspects of microbial N₂O reduction—such as the effect of O₂ availability on the N₂O sink capacity of a community—remain unclear. We studied N₂O vs. aerobic respiration in a chemostat culture to explore (i) the extent to which simultaneous respiration of N...