A number of
Paracoccus species including
P. pantotrophus are found in wastewater systems, as reflected in its first recorded isolation from a treatment plant in
Delft. When interacting with its surroundings,
P. pantotrophus are able to help regulate nutrient levels in the environment, given their abilities to simultaneously perform complete
denitrification, which involves the full conversion of
nitrate to nitrogen gas, and
nitrification, involving conversion of
ammonia to
nitrate. By helping to prevent the excess accumulation of nitrogen nutrients, research has suggested that
P. pantotrophus may consequently help reduce the occurrence of water
eutrophication from the
effluent that discharges from wastewater systems. Eutrophication poses a cause for concern due to the degradation in water quality for both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, as resulting
algal blooms lead to depletion of oxygen, preceding a decrease in marine biodiversity, as well as rises in levels of
waterborne diseases. Hence, as mentioned in the prior section,
P. pantotrophus have been considered a biological avenue for preventing and treating nitrogenous wastewater before it flows into the environment, as emphasized by the cost-effective quality that comes with biological treatment techniques. In addition to these properties,
P. pantotrophus exhibit abilities to use
nitrate and
nitrous oxide sources concurrently, allowing for consideration of their
nitrous oxide reduction capability to function as a
greenhouse gas sink. Although
denitrifying bacteria may be sources and sinks of
nitrous oxide, which acts as an intermediate, its release as a byproduct during
denitrification may be minimized with the presence of the fully functioning
nosZ gene, which encodes the
nitrous oxide reductase enzyme responsible for converting
nitrous oxide to nitrogen gas. == Genomic Sequence ==