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Evolutionary Biology of Primitive Fishes pp 321–337Cite as

On Urea Formation in Primitive Fishes

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Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((NSSA,volume 103))

Abstract

In 1828, Friedrich Wöhler obtained urea by heating ammonium cyanate, this being the first deliberate extracorporeal synthesis of an organic compound by man. A century passed before Krebs and Henseleit (1932) demonstrated the biosynthesis of urea by mammalian liver through a process they termed the “ornithine cycle”. It is fitting and historically instructive to note that between these two scientific achievements Salkowski (1877–78) provided the lead article in Hoppe-Seyler’s new journal, his Zeitschrift für physiologische Chemie’, “On the process of urea formation in animals and the influence on this by ammonium salts.” Now, somewhat more than a half-century since the discovery of the ornithine cycle, we are still working on the details of how it operates. This cycle, which we will refer to here as the ornithine-urea cycle (reasons for which will become evident later), has been, and continues to be, the framework for a legion of studies in comparative biochemistry and physiology.

I can make urea without the necessity of a kidney . . . Letter from Wöhler to Berzelius, Feb. 22, 1828 (Hurt, 1978).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Fisheries, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA

    G. W. Brown Jr. & Susan G. Brown

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  1. G. W. Brown Jr.
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  2. Susan G. Brown
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Bamfield Marine Station, Bamfield, British Columbia, Canada

    R. E. Foreman

  2. University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA

    A. Gorbman

  3. University College of North Wales, Bangor, UK

    J. M. Dodd

  4. University of Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden

    R. Olsson

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© 1985 Plenum Press, New York

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Brown, G.W., Brown, S.G. (1985). On Urea Formation in Primitive Fishes. In: Foreman, R.E., Gorbman, A., Dodd, J.M., Olsson, R. (eds) Evolutionary Biology of Primitive Fishes. NATO ASI Series, vol 103. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-9453-6_17

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-9453-6_17

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