Chlamydomonas reinhardtii urea metabolism

Urea is an important source of regenerated nitrogen and can be broken down by urease and urea amidolyase, however, the catabolism and regulation of urea utilized by eukaryotic phytoplankton through urea amidolyase remain largely uncharted. Here, our research focused on elucidating the phylogenetic distribution, expression patterns across diverse phytoplankton species, and the functional roles of two specific subunits (DUR2, DUR3B) within the urea amidolyase pathway, with the objective of shedding light on the underlying molecular mechanisms.