Methylenediurea deaminase explained

Methylenediurea deaminase (methylenediurease) is an enzyme with systematic name methylenediurea aminohydrolase found in Brucella anthropi, a bacterium.^[1] This enzyme catalyses the following chemical reaction:

\rightleftharpoons

N-(hydroxymethyl)urea + 2 NH₃ + CO₂ (overall reaction)

(1a) methylenediurea + H₂O

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N-(carboxyaminomethyl)urea + NH₃

(1b) N-(carboxyaminomethyl)urea

\rightleftharpoons

N-(aminomethyl)urea + CO₂ (spontaneous)

(1c) N-(aminomethyl)urea + H₂O

\rightleftharpoons

N-(hydroxymethyl)urea + NH₃ (spontaneous)

Methylenediurea is hydrolysed and decarboxylated to give an aminated methylurea.

Notes and References

Purification and characterisation of an enzyme from a strain of Ochrobactrum anthroπ that degrades condensation products of urea and formaldehyde (ureaform) . Jahns T, Schepp R, Kaltwasser H . Canadian Journal of Microbiology . 1997 . 43 . 1111–1117 . 10.1139/m97-159.