NOVEL PRINCIPLES IN THE MICROBIAL CONVERSION OF NITROGEN-COMPOUNDS

Some aspects of inorganic nitrogen conversion by microorganisms like N 2O emission and hydroxylamine metabolism studied by Beijerinck and Klu yver, founders of the Delft School of Microbiology, are still actual t oday. In the Kluyver Laboratory for Biotechnology, microbial conversio n of nitrogen compounds is still a central research theme. In recent y ears a range of new microbial processes and process technological appl ications have been studied. This paper gives a review of these develop ments including, aerobic denitrification, anaerobic ammonium oxidation , heterotrophic nitrification, and formation of intermediates (NO2-, N O, N2O), as well as the way these processes are controlled at the gene tic and enzyme level.