Previously, the heterotrophic–aerobic nitrogen removal abilities
of Agrobacterium tumefaciens LAD9, Comonas testosteroni GAD3 and
Achromobacter xylosoxidans GAD4 were described (Chen and Ni,
2011). The present study aimed to determine whether augmentation
with this consortium could successfully enhance nitrogen
removal in a pilot-scale SBR for municipal wastewater treatment
and retrofit the original system without any supplementary structures
(Lai et al., 2009). Particular attention was paid to investigate
the interactions between inoculated microorganisms and indigenous
microbial communities and to reveal the possible biochemical
mechanisms for nutrients removal on the basis of
ecological data. This study is of particular importance to establishing
new wastewater treatment systems and upgrading or retrofitting
conventional systems from secondary-level to tertiary-level.