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Production of nanocalcite crystal by a urease producing halophilic strain of Staphylococcus saprophyticus and analysis of its properties by XRD and SEM

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Abstract

Cementation of salt-containing soils can be achieved by salt-tolerant or halophilic calcite precipitation bacteria. Therefore, the isolation of calcite-producing bacteria in the presence of salt is the first step in the microbial cementation of saline soils. Urease producing bacteria can cause calcite nano-crystals to precipitate by producing urease in the presence of urea and calcium. The purpose of this study was to isolate urease producing halophilic bacteria in order to make calcite precipitate in saline soil. The calcite and the properties of the strains were further analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope equipped with an energy dispersive X-ray detector. In this study, a total of 110 halophilic strains were isolated, from which 58 isolates proved to have the ability of urease production. Four strains were identified to produce nano-calcite using urease activity in the precipitation medium. The XRD studies showed that the size of these particles was in the range of 40–60 nm. Strain H3 revealed that calcite is mostly produced in the precipitation medium containing 5% salt in comparison with other strains. This strain also produced calcite precipitates in the precipitation medium containing 15% salt. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that these isolates are about 99–100% similar to Staphylococcus saprophyticus.

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Acknowledgements

The current study was supported by the Grant from Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz to Maryam Haddadi for obtaining M.Sc. degree. The authors would like to thank Sara Ghashghaei and Masoud Mohammadi Farsani for their help.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran

    Gholam Reza Ghezelbash & Maryam Haddadi

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  1. Gholam Reza Ghezelbash
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  2. Maryam Haddadi
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Correspondence to Gholam Reza Ghezelbash.

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Ghezelbash, G.R., Haddadi, M. Production of nanocalcite crystal by a urease producing halophilic strain of Staphylococcus saprophyticus and analysis of its properties by XRD and SEM. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 34, 174 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-018-2544-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-018-2544-2

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