Isolation of a Urea Degrading Bacteria :: Biology

Isolation of a carbamide Degrading bacteriumIntroductionUrea was the first organic chemical to be synthetically produced1,previously it was thought that only living creatures could produceorganic compounds Urea is naturally produced by the kidneys as wastefrom the degradation of amino acids. It is because of this that ureais commonly found in malicious gossips and is a useful nutrient witnesser forbacteria that are able to utilise it, such as, Helicobacter pylori,Klebsiella pneumonia, all species of genus Proteus and Micro coccus luteus.These bacteria bring down urea in a response catalysed by the ureaseenzyme, CO(NH2)2 + H2O CO2 + 2NH3. this process benefits the bacteriain some(prenominal) ways. The bacteria use the ammonia that is produced forrespiration, the products also raise the pH of the environment. Thispromotes the produce of many urea degrading bacteria and inhibitscompetition from many former(a) bacterial species.M. luteus is commonly found on mammalian skin and it is extraordinary for amember of the natural human flora to degrade urea. It is believed thatM. luteus has this cogency as an evolutionary hangover from its lifein its ancestral crack habitat. In this environment urea is readilyavailable and the ability to degrade it is a distinct advantage. Asthe species evolved to live on skin the trait remained, as it had nonegative effect on survivability.Micrococcus is a genus within the Micrococcaceae family. With the useof 16s RNA in bacterial taxonomy the genus has recently been revised2.The genus now includes three species, M. luteus, M. lylae and M.antarcticus3. M. luteus is a common yellow gram-positive coccus androughly 0.5-2.0mm in diameter. Cells appear in pairs, tetrads andirregular clusters but neer in chains.4Method of Isolation* Isolate a variety of organisms from soil and skin.By taking samples from four different sources (three skin and onesoil) the materialize of urea degrading bacteria being present wasincreased.* Cultur e in nutrient gunstock.This allowed all isolated microbes to grow.* Plate sample onto urea plates.On these plates urea was the only nutrient available, this meant thatany bacteria that grew could degrade urea.* achieve urease test.Isolated bacteria are grown in a broth containing phosphate buffer,yeast extract, 2% urea and phenol red. An agar careen of the medium isheavily inoculated and incubated at 370c for at least four hours. Ifthe organism only has low urease activity the phosphate buffer will void the NH3 produced. A red colour indicates that NH3 has beenproduced and the result is positive5.* Perform Gram stain.This is the close important stain in bacteriology and differentiatesbetween gram positive and disconfirming cell walls, which indicates