Degradation of urea herbicides by cell-free extracts of Bacillus sphaericus.

N'-methoxy phenylurea herbicides are degraded by induced cells of Bacillus sphaericus ATCC 12123 by liberating carbon dioxide from the ureido portion of the molecule and leaving the corresponding aniline moieties. Cell-free extracts of B. sphaericus inactivate these herbicides in the same way as reported for whole cells. A 6.6-fold purification of the crude extract was achieved by a combination of salt fractionation with ammonium sulfate and column chromatography on diethyl-aminoethyl cellulose.