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  • Review Article
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Sustainable wastewater management through nitrogen-cycling microorganisms

Nature Water volume 2, pages 936–952 (2024)Cite this article

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Abstract

Nitrogen-cycling microorganisms play essential roles in biological wastewater treatment, where nitrogen is removed with substantial energy and chemical consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The discoveries of new nitrogen-cycling microorganisms paved the way for a remarkable paradigm shift from energy-negative and carbon-positive to energy-positive and carbon-neutral wastewater management. This Review reflects on the trajectory of these microbial discoveries and summarizes the technological progress enabled by them thus far. By bridging the gap between environmental microbiologists and water engineers, who are both interested in these new nitrogen-cycling microorganisms but with different focuses and expertise, this Review acknowledges the challenges encountered and illuminates the exciting future ahead. The continued close collaboration between scientists and engineers will keep redefining the landscape of wastewater management.

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Fig. 1: A snapshot of a dynamically evolving narrative for N-cycling microorganisms.
Fig. 2: Genomic comparisons of aerobic ammonia and nitrite oxidizers.
Fig. 3: Electron transfers from inorganic and organic electron donors to nitrogen-reducing pathways.
Fig. 4: Opportunities for new N-cycling microorganisms to revolutionize wastewater management in a NICER paradigm.

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the Australian Research Council Linkage Project (LP220200963) and Discovery Project (DP230101340). T.L. is a recipient of the Australian Research Council DECRA Fellowship (DE220101310) and Hong Kong Research Grants Council’s Early Career Scheme (PolyU 25238324). H.D. and M.Z. are the recipients of the Australian Research Council Industry Fellowship (IE230100422, IE230100245). H.D. acknowledges funding from the Comammox Research Platform of the University of Vienna and the Austrian Science Fund, Cluster of Excellence COE7. S.L. acknowledges funding from the Dutch Research Council (NWO) grant 016.Vidi.189.050. Z.Y. is a Global STEM Professor jointly funded by the Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau and Education Bureau of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and acknowledges financial support from the Hong Kong Jockey Club for the JC STEM Lab of Sustainable Urban Water Management.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Australian Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology, Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia

    Tao Liu, Haoran Duan & Jianhua Guo

  2. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China

    Tao Liu

  3. Water Research Centre, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    Haoran Duan & Min Zheng

  4. Department of Microbiology, Radboud Institute for Biological and Environmental Sciences, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands

    Sebastian Lücker

  5. Division of Microbial Ecology, Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Holger Daims

  6. The Comammox Research Platform, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Holger Daims

  7. School of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    Zhiguo Yuan

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Liu, T., Duan, H., Lücker, S. et al. Sustainable wastewater management through nitrogen-cycling microorganisms. Nat Water 2, 936–952 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44221-024-00307-5

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