The nitrite bottleneck revisited: exploring the potential of phage-mediated microbial regulation for advancing novel nitrogen removal strategies

Jiang Peng; Cancan Jiang; Xu Wang; Shengjun Xu; Aamer Ali Shah; Xuliang Zhuang

doi:10.1038/s41545-025-00543-6

The nitrite bottleneck revisited: exploring the potential of phage-mediated microbial regulation for advancing novel nitrogen removal strategies

Jiang Peng
, Cancan Jiang^*
, Xu Wang
, Shengjun Xu
, Aamer Ali Shah
, Xuliang Zhuang^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

Abstract

The “Nitrite Bottleneck” in nitrite-based nitrogen removal processes undermines the efficiency of partial nitrification-anammox (PN/A). This perspective proposes leveraging bacteriophages for precise microbial community engineering in nitrogen removal: selectively lysing nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) via targeted lysis, enhancing ammonia-oxidizing and anammox bacteria through auxiliary metabolic genes, and facilitating nutrient redistribution via the viral shunt. We explore the feasibility, technical challenges, and potential biosafety risks, offering a roadmap for phage-based advancements in wastewater treatment systems.

Original language	English
Article number	11
Journal	npj Clean Water
Volume	9
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41545-025-00543-6
State	Published - Dec 2026
Externally published	Yes

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title = "The nitrite bottleneck revisited: exploring the potential of phage-mediated microbial regulation for advancing novel nitrogen removal strategies",

abstract = "The “Nitrite Bottleneck” in nitrite-based nitrogen removal processes undermines the efficiency of partial nitrification-anammox (PN/A). This perspective proposes leveraging bacteriophages for precise microbial community engineering in nitrogen removal: selectively lysing nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) via targeted lysis, enhancing ammonia-oxidizing and anammox bacteria through auxiliary metabolic genes, and facilitating nutrient redistribution via the viral shunt. We explore the feasibility, technical challenges, and potential biosafety risks, offering a roadmap for phage-based advancements in wastewater treatment systems.",

author = "Jiang Peng and Cancan Jiang and Xu Wang and Shengjun Xu and Shah, \{Aamer Ali\} and Xuliang Zhuang",

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AU - Xu, Shengjun

AU - Shah, Aamer Ali

AU - Zhuang, Xuliang

PY - 2026/12

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N2 - The “Nitrite Bottleneck” in nitrite-based nitrogen removal processes undermines the efficiency of partial nitrification-anammox (PN/A). This perspective proposes leveraging bacteriophages for precise microbial community engineering in nitrogen removal: selectively lysing nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) via targeted lysis, enhancing ammonia-oxidizing and anammox bacteria through auxiliary metabolic genes, and facilitating nutrient redistribution via the viral shunt. We explore the feasibility, technical challenges, and potential biosafety risks, offering a roadmap for phage-based advancements in wastewater treatment systems.

AB - The “Nitrite Bottleneck” in nitrite-based nitrogen removal processes undermines the efficiency of partial nitrification-anammox (PN/A). This perspective proposes leveraging bacteriophages for precise microbial community engineering in nitrogen removal: selectively lysing nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) via targeted lysis, enhancing ammonia-oxidizing and anammox bacteria through auxiliary metabolic genes, and facilitating nutrient redistribution via the viral shunt. We explore the feasibility, technical challenges, and potential biosafety risks, offering a roadmap for phage-based advancements in wastewater treatment systems.

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JO - npj Clean Water

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ER -

The nitrite bottleneck revisited: exploring the potential of phage-mediated microbial regulation for advancing novel nitrogen removal strategies

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