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Nitrosomonas is used in activated sludge in aerobic wastewater treatment; the reduction of nitrogen compounds in the water is given by nitrification treatment in order to avoid environmental issues, such as, ammonia toxicity and groundwater contamination.

Nitrogen, if present in high quantities can cause algal development, leading to eutrophication with degradation of oceans and lakes.

Employing as wastewater treatment biological removal of nitrogen is obtained a lower economic expense and less damage caused to the environment compared to physical-chemical treatments.

Application in Biotechnology

Nitrosomonas has a role in biofilter systems, tipically in association and collaboration with other microbs, to consume compounds such as ammonia or CO2 and recycle nutrients. These systems are used for various purposes but mainly for the elimination of odors from waste treatment.

Nitrosomonas is a genus comprising Gram-negative, rod-shaped, and chemoautotrophic bacteria.

This organism oxidizes ammonia into nitrite as a metabolic process, known as nitritation (a step of nitrification). Nitrosomonas are useful in a polluted water and waste treatment technique known as bioremediation. They are important in the nitrogen cycle as they increase the bioavailability of nitrogen to plants whilst limiting carbon fixation. The genus is found in soil, freshwater, and on building surfaces, especially in areas that contains high levels of nitrogen compounds.

Nitrosomonas thrive in a pH range of 6.0–9.0, and a temperature range of 20–30 C. Most species are motile with a flagellum located in the polar region of the bacillus.

The organism has power-generating membranes, which form long, thin tubes inside the cell. These use electrons from the oxidation of ammonia to produce energy. It obtains the carbon it requires from the atmosphere via carbon fixation, which converts gaseous carbon dioxide into carbon bound in organic molecules.

Unlike plants, which fix carbon into sugars through energy gained through the process of photosynthesis, Nitrosomonas use energy gained through the oxidation of ammonia to fix gaseous carbon dioxide into organic molecules. Nitrosomonas must consume large amounts of ammonia before cell division can occur, and the process of cell division may take up to several days. This microbe is photophobic, and will generate a biofilm matrix, or form clumps with other microbes, to avoid light.

The species Nitrosomonas europaea has been identified as being able to degrade a variety of halogenated compounds including trichloroethylene, benzene, and vinyl chloride. Some Nitrosomonas species possess the enzyme urease, which catalyzes the conversion of the urea into ammonia and carbon dioxide. N. europaea, as well as populations of soil-dwelling ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB), have been shown to assimilate the carbon dioxide released by the reaction to make biomass via the Calvin cycle, and harvest energy by oxidizing ammonia (the other product of urease) to nitrite. This feature may explain enhanced growth of AOB in the presence of urea in acidic environments.

Some sources regard Nitrobacteraceae to be the family of the genus Nicosomonas.

Chemolitho-autotrophic ammonia-oxidizing bacteria like Nitrosomonas are responsible for the rate-limiting step of nitrification in a wide variety of environments, giving them important key role in the global cycling of nitrogen, especially in the ocean.

In agriculture, nitrification made by Nitrosomonas spp., represents a problem because the oxidized nitrite by ammonia can persist in the soil, leaching, and making it less available for plants.

Nitrification can be slowed down by some inhibitors that are able to slow down the oxidation process of ammonia to nitrites by inhibiting the activity of bacteria of the genus Nitrosomonas, minimize or prevent  the loss of nitrate.

Nitrosomonas spp. is generally found in highest numbers in all habitat in which there is abundance of NH3( environment with plentiful protein decomposition or in wastewater treatment); since do not like being exposed to light, usually cover in aggragates with other microbes to avoid it. Some species can live and proliferate on monuments’ surface or on stone buildings’ walls, causing frequently erosion.

It is globally distributed in both freshwater and saltwater, emerging especially above all in shallow coastal sediments and under the upwelling zones, such as the Peruvian coast and the Arabian Sea.