Phenotypic and Genotypic Identification of Ureolytic Bacteria Isolated from Coastal Sites

Abstract

Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3) is widespread compound in the aquatic and terrestrial environment, and used mainly as an ingredient in cement in the construction industry. Innovative ‘natural cement’ has been proposed as a green building material for use in many applications. Chemical cement has contains chemicals with environmentally detrimental effects, such as acids and sulphates. Thus, microbial Induced Calcite Precipitation (MICP) using urea hydrolysis applications has emerged as a promising process, due to its low cost, high quality, energy saving benefits, and environmentally protective properties. However, the limited understanding and low number of ureolytic bacterial strains impedes application. Therefore, this study examines several aspects of urease, employing ureolytic bacteria isolated from coastal soil from different locations in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Characterisation of the isolates, is described by growth pattern and next-generation sequencing of 16S rDNA. Ureolytic strains isolated are Staphylococcus sp., Bacillus sp., Brevibacillus sp, and Micrococcus luteus 2030. These strains show fundamentally different abilities for producing urease with rapid increases in pH. In this study, additional environmental bacteria were screened for their ability to produce urease, which is employed for (MICP) and provides further knowledge on the role of bacterial strains and their applications in the environmental fields.