Urine nitrification with a synthetic microbial community. urine metagenome

Microbial processes are at the core of nutrient recycling schemes. In certain applications, e.g. during space missions in regenerative life support systems, synthetic microbial communities are preferred due to their gnotobiotic, fully-known, and pathogen-free character. These life support systems comprise urine nitrification and enable in situ food production by generating a stable liquid nitrate fertilizer. Urine nitrification with a synthetic microbial community in a long-term operated reactor was established here for the first time. The gnotobiotic microbial community was followed over time with 16S rRNA illumina amplicon sequencing.