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Isolation and characterization of a heterotrophic nitrifier Proteus mirabilis strain V7 and its potential application in NH4 +-N removal

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Abstract

Ammonia (referring to both NH3 and NH4 +), is one of the most toxic nitrogen forms, and is toxic to many aquatic organisms. The present study identified a heterotrophic nitrifier Proteus mirabilis strain V7, isolated from the coastal seawater. Almost 100 % of 82 mg L–1 NH4 +-N was removed within 48 h, while 51.2 % of total inorganic nitrogen was removed within 96 h after inoculation of Proteus mirabilis strain V7. Moreover, Proteus mirabilis strain V7 could remove NH4 +-N in a seawater matrix, but with much lower efficiency. Three water samples containing NH4 +-N at concentrations of 64.40, 18.00 and 9.82 mg L–1 were chosen to further test the NH4 +-N removal ability of Proteus mirabilis strain V7. All of the NH4 +-N was removed, with only a trace production of NO2 – and NO3 –. A putative subunit of ammonia monooxygenase from Proteus mirabilis strain V7, amoA Pm, was cloned and its mRNA level in the presence of NH4 + was characterized by real time reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR). A 1.8-fold increase in the mRNA level of amoA Pm was observed, which indicated that AmoA may be involved in NH4 + oxidization. Our results indicated that Proteus mirabilis strain V7 could potentially be used as new resource for the treatment of NH4 +-N contaminated environments.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported financially by the Innovation Projects of the Chinese Academy of Sciences grant KZCX2-EW-206, the Doctoral Foundation of Shandong Province grant BS2011SW056, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) grant 31200041, and the 100 Talents Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Coastal Environmental Processes and Ecological Remediation, Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Coastal Environmental Processes, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 17 Chunhui Road, Yantai, Shandong, 264003, People’s Republic of China

    Wei Wei Zhang, Qiao Ning Wang & Ling Xin Chen

  2. Department of Aquaculture, China Agriculture University (Yantai), 2006 Binhai Road, Yantai, Shandong, 264670, People’s Republic of China

    Zheng Yang Andong

  3. Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 7 Nanhai Road, Qingdao, Shandong, 266071, People’s Republic of China

    Min Zhang

  4. School of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Qilu University of Technology, Jinan, Shandong, 250353, People’s Republic of China

    Ying Qin Wei

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  1. Wei Wei Zhang
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  3. Min Zhang
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Correspondence to Ling Xin Chen.

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Zhang, W.W., Andong, Z.Y., Zhang, M. et al. Isolation and characterization of a heterotrophic nitrifier Proteus mirabilis strain V7 and its potential application in NH4 +-N removal. Ann Microbiol 64, 1231–1238 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13213-013-0764-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13213-013-0764-0

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