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Biochemistry of Nickel pp 23–57Cite as

Urease

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Part of the book series: Biochemistry of the Elements ((BOTE,volume 12))

Abstract

Urease catalyzes the hydrolysis of urea to yield ammonia and carbamate, which spontaneously decomposes to form carbonic acid and a second molecule of ammonia [reviewed by Andrews et al. (1984, 1988), Blakeley and Zerner (1984), Mobley and Hausinger (1989), and Zerner (1991)]:

EquationSource% MathType!MTEF!2!1!+- % feaagCart1ev2aqatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn % hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXatLxBI9gBaerbd9wDYLwzYbItLDharqqtubsr % 4rNCHbGeaGqiVu0Je9sqqrpepC0xbbL8F4rqqrFfpeea0xe9Lq-Jc9 % vqaqpepm0xbba9pwe9Q8fs0-yqaqpepae9pg0FirpepeKkFr0xfr-x % fr-xb9adbaqaaeGaciGaaiaabeqaamaabaabaaGceaqabeaacaWGib % WaaSbaaSqaaiaaikdaaeqaaOGaamOtaiabgkHiTiaadoeacaWGpbWa % aSbaaSqaaiaaikdaaeqaaOGaey4kaSIaamisamaaBaaaleaacaaIYa % aabeaakiaad+eacqGHsgIRcaWGibGaamOtamaaBaaaleaacaaIZaaa % beaakiabgUcaRiaadIeadaWgaaWcbaGaaGOmaaqabaGccaWGobGaey % OeI0Iaam4qaiaad+eacaWGpbGaamisaaqaaiaadIeadaWgaaWcbaGa % aGOmaaqabaGccaWGobGaeyOeI0Iaam4qaiaad+eacaWGpbGaamisai % abgUcaRiaadIeadaWgaaWcbaGaaGOmaaqabaGccaWGpbGaeyOKH4Qa % am4qaiaadIeadaWgaaWcbaGaaG4maaqabaGccqGHRaWkcaWGibWaaS % baaSqaaiaaikdaaeqaaOGaam4qaiaad+eadaWgaaWcbaGaaG4maaqa % baaaaaa!5F68!]]</EquationSource><EquationSource Format="TEX"><![CDATA[$$\begin{gathered} {H_2}N - C{O_2} + {H_2}O \to H{N_3} + {H_2}N - COOH \hfill \\ {H_2}N - COOH + {H_2}O \to C{H_3} + {H_2}C{O_3} \hfill \\ \end{gathered}$$

The substrate in this reaction, urea, is constantly released into the environment through biological actions. For example, all mammals excrete urea in urine as a detoxification product (Visek, 1972). To provide a sense of the scale for urea excretion, human urine contains 0.4–0.5 M urea (Griffith et al., 1976), resulting in an annual release of 10 kg of urea per adult (Visek, 1972). Urea is also formed by environmental catabolism of uric acid, the primary detoxification product excreted by birds, reptiles, and most terrestrial insects. Similarly, urea is a product of biodegradation of nitrogenous compounds including purines, arginine, agmatine, allantoin, and allantoic acid (Vogels and van der Drift, 1976). The urea generated by these reactions is rapidly degraded by ureases found in a wide range of bacteria, several fungi, a few invertebrates, and a variety of plants. The significance of urease in these various organisms is summarized below.

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    Robert P. Hausinger

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Hausinger, R.P. (1993). Urease. In: Biochemistry of Nickel. Biochemistry of the Elements, vol 12. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9435-9_3

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