Nucleotide Metabolism | Degradation of Uric Acid

The video tutorial explores purine catabolism, focusing on the formation of uric acid and its degradation across different organisms. Humans and some primates excrete uric acid due to a nonfunctional urate oxidase gene, while other species like birds and reptiles lack the gene entirely. The tutorial details the enzymatic pathways involved in purine degradation, highlighting allantoin, urea, and ammonia as excretion products in various organisms. It contrasts purine catabolism with pyrimidine degradation, emphasizing the diversity of end products based on the organism's enzymatic arsenal.

Describe the process by which amphibians and cartilaginous fishes excrete urea.

What are the final degradation products of purines in marine invertebrates?

How does the degradation of purines differ from that of pyrimidines?