Oxidative catabolism of uracil by Enterobacter aerogenes

The oxidative pathway of uracil catabolism was found to exist in Enterobacter aerogenes. When this bacterium was grown on a medium containing uracil as the sole nitrogen source, oxidative catabolism of uracil was shown by detection of the products barbituric acid, malonic acid and urea using thin-layer chromatography. The 2 enzyme activities associated with the oxidative catabolic pathway, uracil dehydrogenase and barbiturase, were measurable only when uracil served as the sole source of nitrogen for growth.