The short- and long-term effects of inorganic phosphate on property of anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) granule were investigated in this study. Acute exposure to high-level phosphate (>= 50 mM) induced the cytoplasm leakage. During a 195-day continuous-flow operation, the gradually increasing phosphate up to 500 mgPL (1)) slightly affected the specific anammox activity, hardly impacted the heme c content, remarkably decreased the extracellular polymeric substances production and significantly stimulated the dehydrogenase activity of anammox granules. Microbial community analysis showed no shift in the dominant anammox strain and higher population but lower relative abundance of anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing bacteria compared to the control granules. Interestingly, novel anammox granules with a hydroxyapatite core were cultivated, which possessed excellent settleability, huge granule diameter and superior mechanical strength. This study supported the application of granule-based anammox process as a pre-processing treatment in phosphate-containing and ammonia-rich wastewaters. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.