Identification of urease producing Virgibacillus sp. UR1 from marine sediments

Abstract

Urease producing bacteria have been reported from various ecosystems including soil, water and host organisms such as humans and animals. This research describes the isolation and identification of ureolytic bacteria from calcium rich marine sediments of southern India. The potential strain was designated as UR1 and identified using polyphasic taxonomy. The results show that the strain belongs to the genus <em>Virgibacillus</em> and is closely related to the genus <em>Bacillus. </em>Further, the urease was extracted by 80% acetone precipitation method and the molecular weight was determined as ~80 kDA by sodium dodecyl sulfate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). The high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis of the urease in comparison with standard indicates that the isolated enzyme is urease. The enzyme exhibited the maximum activity at the temperature of 45^oC and pH of 9. Furthermore, the crude enzyme exhibited notable calcite precipitation signifying that the strain could be used for microbial induced calcite precipitation (MICP) and subsequently for biocementation process.