[Contribution to the problem of microbially induced urea transformation in soil. I. On the ability of urea...

The present publication is the first of a series on the enzymatic urea tranformation in soil. With about 2,000 pure cultures of micro-organisms it was possible to prove the very good urea utilization by the soil micro-organisms (bacteria, actinomycetes, and fungi). Above all the fungi showed an excellent utilization of urea, while bacteria and actinomycetes were somewhat poorer. Contrary to this is the urease activity of these organisms, and that is the reason why fungi in soil may be regarded as short-time accumulators for urea nitrogen and must not be suppressed by inhibitors.