A substance, organism, or agent that causes denitrification (the breakdown of nitrates).
From denitrify + -ant (variant of -ent, suffix forming agent nouns). Denitrify comes from de- + nitrify, with nitrify from Latin nitro (nitrogen) + -fy (to make).
Denitrifying bacteria are everywhere in soil and water, and they're essential for the nitrogen cycle—without them, we'd be buried in excess nitrates from all our farming and pollution!
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