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Updated: Jun 3, 2026

Plant Sample Preparation for Nucleoside/Nucleotide Content Measurement with An HPLC-MS/MS

Plant Sample Preparation for Nucleoside/Nucleotide Content Measurement with An HPLC-MS/MS

Published on: February 24, 2021

Urea metabolism in plants.

Claus-Peter Witte¹

¹Department of Plant Biochemistry, Dahlem Centre of Plant Sciences, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Str. 12-16, 14195 Berlin, Germany. cpwitte@zedat.fu-berlin.de

Plant Science : an International Journal of Experimental Plant Biology

|March 23, 2011

Summary

Plant urea metabolism involves transporters and urease. Understanding urea uptake and metabolism is crucial for improving nitrogen use efficiency and reducing environmental pollution from fertilizers.

Area of Science:

Plant physiology
Agricultural science
Biochemistry

Background:

Urea is a key plant metabolite and a widely used nitrogen fertilizer.
Plant urea metabolism involves transporters, urease, and accessory proteins.
Nitrogen use efficiency in crops is often low, leading to economic and environmental issues.

Purpose of the Study:

To review proteins involved in plant urea metabolism and metabolic urea sources.
To address open questions in plant urea metabolism in physiological and agricultural contexts.
To highlight the uninvestigated contribution of plant urea metabolism to fertilizer urea usage.

Main Methods:

Literature review of plant urea metabolism.
Analysis of molecular players in urea transport and hydrolysis.

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Discussion of metabolic pathways for urea production and degradation.

Main Results:

Identification of key proteins in plant urea metabolism, including transporters and urease.
Elucidation of urea's entry into plants via root uptake or microbial degradation.
Recent findings on ureide degradation pathways in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Conclusions:

Further investigation into plant urea uptake and metabolism is needed to optimize fertilizer use.
Improving nitrogen use efficiency through understanding urea metabolism can mitigate economic losses and environmental damage.
Biotechnological strategies targeting plant urea metabolism hold potential for enhancing crop nitrogen utilization.