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Glite Dictionary
urease

urease

1 8.6
A substance made by bacteria that breaks urea into ammonia and carbon dioxide
  • noun
  • /ˈjʊəriˌeɪs/
  • Specialized
: ureasa
  • Moreover, biochemical analysis has shown that isolated C. chauvoei was essentially glucose, maltose, and lactose positive, whereas Indoland was urease negative.
  • urease negative

Examples

  • Strains of Helicobacter that had been engineered by others to be to not contain urease were still killed by sulforaphane.

  • Bacterial colonies that are urease positive will turn purple in the presence of urea.

    Academic text (2005)

  • Bacterial colonies will stay yellow if they are urease negative.

    Academic text (2005)

  • They were also tested for their ability to produce urease, utilize HNO3 as the sole nitrogen source, and grow at 37°C.

    Academic text (2007)

  • The bacteria produce urease, an enzyme that breaks down urea into ammonia.

  • In soil, the presence of urease helps convert urea fertilizers into usable forms for plants.

  • Some medical tests measure the activity of urease to identify specific bacterial infections.

Surface Forms

urease singular
ureases plural

Morphology

urease = urea (semi-transparent) = urea + ase

Formed from the noun 'urea' plus the technical enzyme-forming suffix '-ase'; the construction is regular in biochemistry but the suffix is specialized and may not be known to average B1 learners.

Etymology

Urease was formed from urea, a waste chemical found in 'urine', and the enzyme ending -ase, as in lactase. So, urease is the enzyme that breaks down urea.