Review Properties and Applications of Urease

Urease is a highly efficient catalyst for the hydrolysis of urea with a rate approximately 10 14 times the rate of the noncatalyzed reaction. It has a long and distinguished history in the development of enzymology. In this work the properties of urease and its applications in biotechnology are reviewed, including urea content analysis in blood, urine, alcoholic beverages, natural water and environmental wastewaters; analysis of heavy metal content in natural waters, wastewaters and soil; determination of creatinine, arginine and IgG; urea removal from artificial kidney dialyzates, alcohol beverages and fertilizer wastewaters; wastewater reclamation for life support systems in space; pH control or shift for multi-enzyme reaction system; and urea hydrolysis as sources of ammonia or carbon dioxide in special cases. Future research trends are also outlined.