An extracellular H2O2-requiring enzyme preparation involved in lignin biodegradation by the white rot basidiomycete Phanerochaete chrysosporium.

An H2O2-requiring enzyme system was found in the extracellular medium of ligninolytic cultures of Phanerochaete chrysosporium. The enzyme system generated ethylene from 2-keto-4-thiomethyl butyric acid (KTBA), and oxidized a variety of lignin model compounds including the diarylpropane 1-(4'-ethoxy-3'-methoxyphenyl) 1,3-dihydroxy-2-(4"-methoxyphenyl)propane (I), a beta-ether dimer 1-(4'-ethoxy-3'-methoxyphenyl)glycerol-beta-guaiacyl ether (IV) and an olefin 1-(4'-ethoxy-3'-methoxyphenyl)1,2-propene (VI). The products found were equivalent to the metabolic products previously isolated from intact ligninolytic cultures. In addition, the enzyme system partially degraded 14C-ring labeled lignin. The enzyme was not found in high nitrogen (N) cultures, nor in cultures of a ligninolytic mutant strain which is incapable of metabolizing lignin.