The Decomposition of Allantoin by Intestinal Bacteria

Degradation of purines and pyrimidines by microorganisms.

“…niger (B. vulgatus) (132,486). However, the results are not unequivocally confirmed (139,169,170,516,613,614). Guanine, xanthine, uric acid, and allantoin are not used as nitrogen sources by B. cereus var.…”

“…Positive results were only obtained with S. faecalis. When incubated in air, a few strains of S. faecalis were positive, although Young and Hawkins (613) found no degradation, but under anaerobic conditions a large majority of the strains decomposed uric acid.…”

“…A study was made on the xanthine dehydrogenase of this organism (558). L. bulgaricus cannot degrade allantoin when this compound is added to nutrient broth (613).…”

“…S. agalactiae, S. lactis, and a ,B-hemolytic streptococcus did not grow in a medium with uric acid as a sole nitrogen source (433). S. hemolyticus cannot decompose allantoin present in nutrient broth (613). Mead (334) tested a number of strains of S.…”

The Mechanism of Allantoin Degradation by a Pseudomonas

“…grades allantoin anaerobically, giving rise to ammonia, urea, carbon dioxide, formic, acetic, lactic, and oxamic acids and possibly glycolic acid. It has been postulated from growth studies with bacteria (Young and Hawkins, 1944) and yeast (DiCarlo et al, 1953) that the aerobic decomposition of allantoin occurs via allantoic acid yielding glyoxylic acid and urea.…”