Alternative nutrient sources for biotechnological use of Sporosarcina pasteurii

The potential use of Sporosarcina pasteurii in possible biotechnological applications on a large scale (ground improvement, consolidation of building structures and ornamental stone, or in developing bio-materials for the building industry), is based on its ability to produce high amounts of carbonate in a short period of time via urea hydrolysis. Industrial biomass production would have a low environmental impact and would be most economical if the standard growth media could be replaced with alternative nutrient sources, such as byproducts or wastes from other industries, or other low cost ingredients. The use of cost effective ingredients must guarantee ureolytic activities and growth conditions that are comparable to those resulting from the standard nutrient medium. In this work, three types of alternative media were tested for growing the ureolytic active bacteria S. pasteurii: (1) alternative nutrient sources such as industrial wastes resulting from the dairy and brewery industries, (2) fertilizer urea as an alternative urea substitute, and (3) different types of poultry manure based fertilizers as nutrient and urea substitutes. The comparison between the standard media, the nutrient alternatives and urea substitutes was possible by taking the protein concentration and nitrogen content into account. Bacterial activity was evaluated in terms of biomass changes over time (CFU, optical density, ATP measurements) and indirect estimation of the enzyme production (Nessler assay, conductivity measurement). The results revealed that some of the dairy wastes tested, such as whey and buttermilk, are potential alternative nutrients for bacterial development, while the urea fertilizer is perfectly suitable as an economical substitute for pure laboratory grade urea.