Characteristics of a novel thermophilic heterotrophic bacterium, Anoxybacillus contaminans HA, for nitrification–aerobic denitrification

A strain bacterium that is thermophilic, heterotrophic nitrifying, and aerobic denitrifying was isolated and identified as Anoxybacillus contaminans HA for the first time. The identification was based on morphological and physiological characterizations, together with phylogenetic analysis of 16S rDNA sequence. The strain possessed excellent tolerance to high temperatures, with 55 °C as its optimum and 60 °C as viable. Moreover, NH4+–N and NO3−–N could be efficiently removed under thermophilic and solely aerobic conditions, with little intermediate accumulation. Average removal efficiencies of NH4+–N and NO3−–N at 55 °C reached 71.0 and 74.7 %, respectively, with removal rates of 5.83 and 32.08 mg l−1 h−1, respectively. Single-factor experiments suggested that the optimal conditions for both heterotrophic nitrification and aerobic denitrification were glucose as carbon source, NH4+–N range of 50–200 mg l−1, and wide NO3−–N range of 200–1000 mg l−1. These results indicated that strain HA had heterotrophic nitrification and aerobic denitrification abilities, as well as the notable ability to remove ammonium under thermophilic condition. Thus, this strain has potential application in waste-gas treatment.