Ammonium transformed into nitrous oxide via nitric oxide by Pseudomonas putida Y-9 under aerobic conditions without hydroxylamine as intermediate

Abstract

Previous studies have reported that hydroxylamine (NH2OH) is an inevitable intermediate of the ammonium (NH4+) oxidation pathway under aerobic conditions. In this study, Pseudomonas putida Y-9 was found to oxidize ammonium into N2O via NO without the accumulation of NH2OH and NO2− under aerobic conditions. NH2OH was nearly completely transformed into NO2− whether NH4+ was present in the medium, and NH4+ could accelerate the transformation of NH2OH to NO2− by promoting Y-9 growth. NH4+ was oxidized rapidly by Y-9 with or without the presence of NH2OH in the medium, and the decrease of total nitrogen reached 30.65 mg/L and 39.38 mg/L, respectively, which indicates that NH2OH inhibits the transformation efficiency of NH4+ to N2O. Gene amplification and enzyme assays demonstrated that ammonia monooxygenase doesn’t exist in Y-9. All results show that NH4+ can be transformed into N2O via NO by Y-9 under aerobic conditions without NH2OH as intermediate.