Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Microbial Decomposition of Various Fractions of Ureaformaldehyde

Nature volume 211, pages 1202–1203 (1966)Cite this article

Abstract

CONSIDERABLE interest has been shown in the mineralization of ureaformaldehyde, a compound with “slow release” properties of value in fertilizer technology. It has been suggested that the release of ammonium–nitrogen from this polymer is biological1, although Winsor and Lang2 proposed that the first stage of decomposition may be non-biological. Commercial ureaformaldehyde is composed of various chain length polymers, which can be arbitrarily grouped into the cold water soluble (CWS), hot water soluble (HWS) and hot water insoluble (HWI) fractions.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Fuller, W. H., and Clark, K. G., Soil Sci. Soc. Amer. Proc., 12, 198 (1947). Haep, J. T., Haden, W. W., and Anderson, A. E., J. Agric. Food Chem., 13, 176 (1965).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Winsor, G. W., and Lang, M. I. E., J. Sci. Food Agric., 9, 185 (1958).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Lees, H., and Quastel, J. H., Biochem. J., 40, 815 (1946).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Jensen, H. L., Canad. J. Micros., 3, 151 (1957).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario

    C. T. CORKE & J. B. ROBINSON

Authors
  1. C. T. CORKE
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. J. B. ROBINSON
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

CORKE, C., ROBINSON, J. Microbial Decomposition of Various Fractions of Ureaformaldehyde. Nature 211, 1202–1203 (1966). https://doi.org/10.1038/2111202a0

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/2111202a0

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing