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Degradation of urea by entrapped cross-linked urease aggregates: a combinatorial approach to urease stabilization for environmental and industrial applications

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Abstract

Urease which catalyzes biodegradation of urea to ammonia and carbon dioxide has attracted a great deal of attention as a catalyst in food industry, agriculture and artificial kidneys. Immobilization is a unique approach for enhancement of enzyme stability before enzyme industrialization. In the present work, crude sword bean urease was immobilized in the form of cross-linked enzyme aggregate prior to entrapment in polyacrylamide gel or chitosan beads. No significant change was observed in the kinetic constant value (k m ) of urease upon formation of cross-linked enzyme aggregate. Entrapment of urease cross-linked aggregates in chitosan beads resulted in complete loss of activity while polyacrylamide-embedded cross-linked urease aggregates were enzymatically active. The optimum temperature for urease was 60 °C (soluble and cross-linked aggregate form) and 70 °C (polyacrylamide-embedded cross-linked aggregate). The optimal pH for urease was 7.0 (soluble and cross-linked aggregate form) and 5.0 (polyacrylamide-embedded cross-linked aggregate). In the other words, immobilization in the form of cross-linked aggregate and entrapment in polyacrylamide matrix could be resulted in the stabilization of urease over a wider pH range. Urease cross-linked aggregate showed improved stability at 60 °C, and its half-life increased about two times. Operational stability of cross-linked urease aggregate was also noticeably improved upon entrapment in polyacrylamide gel. In conclusion, entrapment of carrier-free cross-linked urease aggregate in a polyacrylamide matrix could result in a great improvement in both the storage and operational stabilities of urease.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Research Institute of Petroleum Industry (RIPI), Tehran, Iran.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biotechnology Research Center, Research Institute of Petroleum Industry (RIPI), Tehran, Iran

    M. Zeinali & H. Lenjannezhadian

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  1. M. Zeinali
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  2. H. Lenjannezhadian
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Correspondence to M. Zeinali.

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Editorial responsibility: M. Abbaspour.

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Zeinali, M., Lenjannezhadian, H. Degradation of urea by entrapped cross-linked urease aggregates: a combinatorial approach to urease stabilization for environmental and industrial applications. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 15, 49–56 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-017-1337-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-017-1337-8

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