Nitrobacter - Nitrobacter bacteria

Nitrobacter bacteria play a major role in the nitrogen cycle, mostly by transforming nitrites into nitrates. Take your aquarium , for example:

When a new aquarium is started, fish waste and uneaten food decomposes to ammonia, which is very harmful for fish.

Theoretically, this is where the Nitrosomonas come in and transform that ammonia into nitrites which ain't a breeze for your fish, because it's also a toxin.

But the last major player in this nitrogen cycle is the Nitrobacter, which takes in those harmful nitrites and converts them to nitrates to which most fish could be considered to be immune.

Hooray!

Nitrobacter is a gram-negative bacteria, which means it does not retain a crystal violet dye in the gram staining procedure.

In the gram stain test, a counterstain (mostly safranin) is added after the crystal violet, coloring all gram-negative bacteria to a red or pink color., thus helping to identify two types of bacteria based on their cell walls structural differences.

It is a chemoautotrophic bacteria, meaning it is a bacteria which obtains its energy by the oxidation of electron donors in their environments and, in addition, it synthesizes all organic compounds from carbon dioxide.

Nitrobacter can either be pleomorphic (they can have more than one shape during their life), pear-shaped or rod-shaped.

This bacteria usually reproduces by budding ( a form of asexual reproduction in which a new organism grows on another, remains attached to the parent individual until mature, and is genetically identical to the parent individual - a clone)

Nitrobacter is a genus of bacteria from the Pseudomonadales order.
It has 4 known species (or cousins if you wish) - Nitrobacter alkalicus, Nitrobacter hamburgensis, Nitrobacter vulgaris and Nitrobacter winogradski.

To fulfill their carbon needs, these bacteria use the energy that results from the oxidation of nitrite into nitrate.

They occur in environments where organic matter is being mineralized, such as sea water, fresh water and soil.

Are you ready for science... particularly, microbiological FUN science?

Presenting the wonderful instrument that is the high power microscope!

With a microscope you can discover the fascinating micro-world that is all around us, and in this particular scenario, you can discover the Nitrobacter in its own environment.

Get your scientific uber-zooming instrument and grow your own Nitrobacters to help in your bioremediation endeavors or just give your aquarium fishies a bit of a health boost :).