Brocadia fulgida

Candidatus Brocadia fulgida is an anammox bacterial species commonly found in wastewater sludge. Anaerobic ammonium oxidation, or anammox, is the bacterial metabolic strategy where nitrogen gas is produced in anoxic conditions, meaning no oxygen, through the metabolism of ammonium and nitrate or nitrite. Anammox metabolism is rare in nature and was only discovered in 1995. Though only a few anammox species have been identified, with estimates ranging from 23-27 species, these nitrogen-producing microbes are responsible for over 50% of Earth's atmospheric nitrogen. Ca. B. fulgida is able to be cultured, a property unique to fewer than 1% of microbial species. Candidatus refers to microbes that are well characterized, but have not been maintained in pure culture. Ca. B. fulgida is also the only known anammox species that can fluoresce.