Our research shows that the addition of nitrate quickly upcycles sewage sludge, which is rich in ammonium, organic matter and sulfur compounds, into anaerobic ammonium oxidation seeds — inocula that contain anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing bacteria — that can be used to initiate or enrich ammonium oxidation processes in wastewater treatment.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
$32.99 / 30 days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 digital issues and online access to articles
$119.00 per year
only $9.92 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on SpringerLink
- Instant access to the full article PDF.
USD 39.95
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Mulder, A., van de Graaf, A. A., Robertson, L. A. & Kuenen, J. G. Anaerobic ammonium oxidation discovered in a denitrifying fluidized bed reactor. FEMS Microbiol. Ecol. 16, 177–183 (1995). This paper reports the discovery of the anammox phenomenon.
Strous, M. et al. Deciphering the evolution and metabolism of an anammox bacterium from a community genome. Nature 440, 790–794 (2006). This paper reports that the electron acceptor of anammox bacteria is nitrite rather than nitrate.
Ripl, W. Biochemical oxidation of polluted lake sediment with nitrate - a new lake restoration method. Ambio 5, 132–135 (1976). This paper reports in situ lake sediment remediation accomplished by the addition of nitrate.
Xu, M. et al. Elevated nitrate enriches microbial functional genes for potential bioremediation of complexly contaminated sediments. ISME J. 8, 1932–1944 (2014). This paper describes the observation that expression of anammox functional genes is prominently increased by the addition of nitrate during in situ sediment remediation.
Sheng, H. et al. Calcium nitrate as a bio-stimulant for anaerobic ammonium oxidation process. Sci. Total Environ. 760, 143331 (2021). This paper reports that rapid enrichment of anammox bacteria occurs when nitrate is used as the only initial influent substrate.
Additional information
Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
This is a summary of: Sheng, H. et al. Upcycling sewage sludge into anammox seeds via in situ nitrate-driven oxidation. Nat. Sustain. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-025-01635-4 (2025).
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Adding nitrate to sewage sludge can drive robust anammox seed production. Nat Sustain 8, 1250–1251 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-025-01639-0
Published:
Version of record:
Issue date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-025-01639-0
