Isolation, screening and production studies of uricase producing bacteria from poultry sources

Uricase (urate oxidase EC 1.7.3.3) is a therapeutic enzyme that is widely used to catalyze the enzymatic oxidation of uric acid in the treatment of hyperuricemia and gout diseases. In this study, three bacterial species capable of producing extracellular uricase were isolated from a poultry source and screened based on the size of the clear zone using a uric acid agar plate. The bacterial species capable of producing uricase with the highest uricolytic activity was identified as Bacillus cereus strain DL3 using a 16SrRNA gene sequencing approach. The time-course study of uricase production was performed and the medium was optimized. Carboxymethylcellulose and asparagine were found to be the best carbon and nitrogen sources. Maximum uricolytic activity was observed at pH 7.0 with an inducer concentration of 2.0 g/L. Inoculum size of 5% gave maximum uricolytic activity. The maximum uricolytic activity of 15.43 U/mL was achieved at optimized conditions, which is 1.61 times more than the initial activity. Further, enzymatic stability was determined at different pH and temperature.