KINETIC-STUDIES OF THE UREASE-CATALYZED HYDROLYSIS OF UREA IN A BUFFER-FREE SYSTEM

The kinetics of urea hydrolysis catalyzed by urease, mainly in the abs ence of buffers by use of the self-buffer effect of the products, was investigated. The effect of pH, temperature, and concentration of enzy me, substrate, product, salt ions, and buffers on the kinetic behavior of urease was examined. A kinetic model of a modified Michaelis-Mente n form, incorporating substrate and product inhibition, pH dependence, and temperature effect, was developed to describe the reaction rate. Experimental data indicated that urease in a buffer-free solution was less susceptible to the inhibition of substrate product. The Michaelis constant keeps almost constant with the variation of pH and temperatu re, and increases with the addition of buffers and salts. The data als o suggested that the noncompetitive pattern of the product inhibition, which is not significantly affected by temperature, increases gently with increasing pH. A Monod form rate expression was proposed to analy ze the pH effect on the maximum rate. The proposed kinetic model was a lso examined by the long-time experiments in which pH, substrate, and product concentration varied obviously during the reaction course.