We investigate anaerobic ammonium oxidation (www.anammox.com) and the mushroom nitrogen metabolism. The anaerobic ammonium oxidation process (anammox) is an important new technique for the removal of ammonium from wastewater. In this process ammonium and nitrite are converted to nitrogen gas. Currently, we grow several bacteria capable of anammox in our laboratory. Anammox research is focused on:
- anammox biochemistry
- anammox cell biology
- anammox genomics
- anammox ecophysiology
- role of NO and NO2 (nitrogen oxides)
- anaerobic and aerobic ammonium oxidation
The research has several unique qualities such as the spectacularly low growth rate of the anammox bacteria (3 weeks), the involvement of hydrazine (known as a jet-fighter booster) in anammox metabolism, the unprecendented ultrastructure of anammox bacteria and much more...
Apart from anammox, our group also investigates the nitrogen metabolism of Agaricus bisporus, known as the common mushroom. Nitrogen metabolism is very important in how well mushrooms taste after storage.
