Uricotelism, Biology

Assignment Help:

Uricotelism

In animals which inhabit extremely arid environments, ammonia is converted into  uric acid. Uric acid is least toxic, relatively insoluble and is easily precipitated. Hence, it can be excreted in solid form without loss of substantial amount of water. Pulmonate snails, terrestrial insects, squamate reptiles (lizards and snakes) and birds excrete a major portion of their waste nitrogen in the form of semi-solid or solid uric acid and hence are referred to as uricotelic animals.

1807_Uricotelism.png

Figure: Uric Acid

The synthesis of uric acid from ammonia in these animals occurs by the inosinic acid pathway. This pathway was first elucidated by Buchanan and his co- workers in the 1950s in pigeon liver. Uric acid is a member of the purines. While the details of the pathway are beyond the scope of this unit, in Figure the different fragments from which the uric acid molecule is assembled is shown. The dashed lines which divide the uric acid molecule in the Figure indicate the building blocks from which its biosynthesis takes place.


Related Discussions:- Uricotelism

Carbon, I need the parts of the structure carbon. Include elements,monomer...

I need the parts of the structure carbon. Include elements,monomer,polymer, and any sub units

Complications of phototherapy, Complications of Phototherapy i) Inse...

Complications of Phototherapy i) Insensible water loss: There is increased insensible water loss in infants undergoing phototherapy. ii) Gastrointestinal effects: Photot

Medical therapy for tricuspid stenosis, Q. Medical therapy for tricuspid st...

Q. Medical therapy for tricuspid stenosis? Medical therapy is ineffective. With diuretics, symptoms of congestion are replaced by that of low cardiac output state. Occasional c

Carbohydrate digestion, Carbohydrate Digestion Simple sugars like gluc...

Carbohydrate Digestion Simple sugars like glucose and fructose can be absorbed and metabolised directly but disaccharides such as sucrose or lactose and polysaccharides such a

Do plants present only sexual reproduction, Q. Do plants present only sexua...

Q. Do plants present only sexual reproduction? There are asexual forms of reproduction in plants few naturally detached pieces of root, leaves or limbs develop into another com

Define non-polar compounds that are immersed in aqueous, The dominant bonds...

The dominant bonds holding together non-polar compounds that are immersed in aqueous solution are _________, and the forces that hold pure solutions of non-polar compounds are ____

Why fats, Why Fats, Oils and Sugar are important for human body? This g...

Why Fats, Oils and Sugar are important for human body? This group imparts flavour to the items and thereby improves the palatability. Items incorporating them do melt in the mo

Gene recombinations, Which of the recombination process(transformation, con...

Which of the recombination process(transformation, conjugation and transduction) would be most likely to occur in the natural environment?

Adoption of technological developments, Normal 0 false false ...

Normal 0 false false false EN-IN X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

Genomic dna fragments, You have an extensive library of genomic DNA fragmen...

You have an extensive library of genomic DNA fragments, prepared by the use of restriction nucleases. You know their sequences and sizes and you have an assay to reliably separate

Write Your Message!

Captcha
Free Assignment Quote

Assured A++ Grade

Get guaranteed satisfaction & time on delivery in every assignment order you paid with us! We ensure premium quality solution document along with free turntin report!

All rights reserved! Copyrights ©2019-2020 ExpertsMind IT Educational Pvt Ltd