JWSS - Journal of Water and Soil Science

Urea is one of the most commonly used nitrogen fertilizers in agricultural lands. The fate of this fertilizer in soils is greatly related to the soil urease enzyme activity, while this enzyme commonly exists in the adsorbed state on the surface of soil colloids, and especially clay minerals. In order to examine the kinetic properties of free and adsorbed Urease on the surface of sepiolite and vermiculite, an experiment was carried out with eight levels of urea concentration (5, 10, 20, 40, 60, 80, 100 and 120 mM). This experiment was done with enzyme concentration of 1 unit in temperature of 25˚C and pH=7. Adsorption of urease on the clay surfaces affected its kinetic properties compared to the free state. The results showed that urease enzyme obeyed Michaelis-Menten kinetic in both free and adsorbed states on the clay surfaces. Except free urease, the highest and lowest values of V_max and K_m were observed in urease-sepiolite and urease-vermiculite complexes, respectively. Also, the results showed that except free urease, the highest levels of Catalytic Efficiency were related to urease in the presence of vermiculite and sepiolite, respectively. The Effectiveness Factor was more for adsorbed urease on the sepiolite surface than adsorbed urease on the vermiculite surface, and the fact somehow suggests more complete diffusion in the presence of sepiolite.