Physicochemical characterization of Pseudomonas stutzeri UFV5 and analysis of its transcriptome under heterotrophic nitrification/aerobic denitrification pathway induction condition

Biological ammonium removal via heterotrophic nitrification/aerobic denitrification (HN/AD) presents several advantages in relation to conventional removal processes, but little is known about the microorganisms and metabolic pathways involved in this process. In this study, Pseudomonas stutzeri UFV5 was isolated from an activated sludge sample from oil wastewater treatment station and its ammonium removal via HN/AD was investigated by physicochemical and molecular approaches to better understand this process and optimize the biological ammonium removal in wastewater treatment plants. Results showed that P. stutzeri UFV5 removed all the ammonium in 48–72 hours using pyruvate, acetate, citrate or sodium succinate as carbon sources, C/N ratios 6, 8, 10 and 12, 3–6% salinities, pH 7–9 and temperatures of 20–40 °C. Comparative genomics and PCR revealed that genes encoding the enzymes involved in anaerobic denitrification process are present in P. stutzeri genome, but no gene that encodes enzymes involved in autotrophic nitrification was found. Furthermore, transcriptomics showed that none of the known enzymes of autotrophic nitrification and anaerobic denitrification had their expression differentiated and an upregulation of the biosynthesis machinery and protein translation was observed, besides several genes with unknown function, indicating a non-conventional mechanism involved in HN/AD process.