25 times more potent than that of carbon dioxide, and freshwaters are a major contributor of global methane emissions. A study conducted on Europe’s Lake Constance found that anaerobic methane oxidation coupled to denitrification - also referred to as nitrate/nitrite-dependent anaerobic methane oxidation (n-damo) - is a dominant sink of methane in deep lakes. For a long time, it was believed that the mitigation of methane emissions was only due to aerobic methanotrophic bacteria. However, methane oxidation also takes place in anoxic, or oxygen depleted zones, of freshwater bodies. In the case of Lake Constance, this is carried out by M. oxyfera-like bacteria. M. oxyfera-like bacteria are bacteria similar to Candidatus Methylomirabilis oxyfera, which is a species of bacteria that acts as a denitrifying methanotroph. The results from the study on Lake Constance found that nitrate was depleted in the water at the same depth as methane, which suggests that methane oxidation was coupled to denitrification. It could be inferred that it was M. oxyfera-like bacteria carrying out the methane oxidation because their abundance peaked at the same depth where the methane and nitrate profiles met. This n-damo process is significant because it aids in decreasing methane emissions from deep freshwater bodies and it aids in turning nitrates into nitrogen gas, reducing excess nitrates. Denitrifying bacteria and the environment Denitrification effects on limiting plant productivity and producing by-products The process of denitrification can lower the fertility of soil as nitrogen, a growth-limiting factor, is removed from the soil and lost to the atmosphere. This loss of nitrogen to the atmosphere can eventually be regained via introduced nutrients, as part of the nitrogen cycle. Some nitrogen may also be fixated by species of nitrifying bacteria and the cyanobacteria. Another important environmental issue concerning denitrification is the fact that the process tends to produce large amounts of by-products. Examples of by-products are nitric oxide (NO) and nitrous oxide (N2O). NO is an ozone depleting species and N2O is a potent greenhouse gas which can contribute to global warming. Denitrifying bacteria use in wastewater treatment Denitrifying bacteria are an essential component in treating wastewater. Wastewater often contains large amounts of nitrogen (in the form of ammonium or nitrate), which could be damaging to human health and ecological processes if left untreated. Many physical, chemical, and biological methods have been used to remove the nitrogenous compounds and purify polluted waters. The process and methods