Production of hydrogen peroxide by aryl-alcohol oxidase from the ligninolytic fungusPleurotus eryngii

Summary Production of extracellular hydrogen peroxide by fungal oxidases is been investigated as a requirement for lignin degradation. Aryl-alcohol oxidase activity is described in extracellular liquid and mycelium ofPleurotus eryngii and studied under non-limiting nitrogen conditions. This aryl-alcohol oxidase catalyses conversion of primary aromatic alcohols to the corresponding aldehydes and H₂O₂, showing no activity with aliphatic and secondary aromatic alcohols. The enzyme is stable at pH 4.0–9.0, has maximal activity at 45°–50°C and pH 6.0–6.5, is inhibited by Ag⁺, Pb²⁺ and NaN₃, and has aK _m of 1.2 mM using veratryl alcohol as substrate. A single protein band with aryl-alcohol oxidase activity was found in zymograms of extracellular and intracellular crude enzyme preparations fromP. eryngii.     

Low impact strategies to improve ligninolytic enzyme production in filamentous fungi: the case of laccase in Pleurotus ostreatus

The ever-increasing demand of laccases for biodelignification, industrial oxidative processes and environmental bioremediation requires the production of large quantities of enzymes at low cost. The present work was carried out to reduce laccase production costs in liquid fermentations of the white-rot fungus Pleurotus?ostreatus through two different approaches. In the first, screening of fungal spent media as natural laccase inducer was performed, eliminating the presence of potentially toxic/recalcitrant and expensive exogenous inducers in the culture broth. In the latter, breeding of different strains of P.?ostreatus, screened for their laccase productivity, was performed by cross-hybridisation, avoiding genetic transformation and mutagenic treatments that could produce organisms not suitable for "natural or safe processes". A laccase production level close to 80,000U/L by combining the two approaches was achieved. Autoinduction and classical breeding represent promising tools for the improvement of fungal fermentation without affecting the disposable costs that also depend on the eco-compatibility of the whole process.     

Expression of Pleurotus eryngii aryl-alcohol oxidase in Aspergillus nidulans: purification and characterization of the recombinant enzyme

Aryl-alcohol oxidase (AAO) is an extracellular flavoenzyme involved in lignin biodegradation by some white-rot fungi. The enzyme catalyzes the extracellular oxidation of aromatic alcohols to the corresponding aldehydes. The electron acceptor is molecular oxygen yielding H(2)O(2) as the product. Herein we describe, for the first time, the expression of AAO from Pleurotus eryngii in the ascomycete Aspergillus nidulans. The activity of the recombinant enzyme in A. nidulans cultures is much higher than found in the extracellular fluid of P. eryngii. The recombinant enzyme showed the same molecular mass, pI and catalytic properties as that of the mature protein secreted by P. eryngii. The enzymic properties are also similar to those reported from other Pleurotus and Bjerkandera species.     

Comparison of ligninolytic activities of selected white-rot fungi

Summary Six fast growing ligninolytic white-rot fungi were compared with Phanerochaete chrysosporium. The results showed that the fungi have similar ligninolytic systems, although minor differences exist. Like in P. chrysosporium the ligninolytic system could be induced by veratryl alcohol in Coriolus versicolor and Chrysosporium pruinosum. These three lignin peroxidase producing fungi were the fastest lignin degraders in stationary cultures, whereas in agitated cultures Bjerkandera adusta showed highest lignin degradation rates. Metabolites accumulating during the degradation of veratryl alcohol were analyzed and compared. Peroxidase production seems to be a common feature of all the tested fungi. Polyclonal antibodies against the lignin peroxidase with pl of 4.65 from P. chrysosporium reacted with the extracellular peroxidases of C. pruinosum, C. versicolor and B. adusta, but not with those of Pleurotus ostreatus.Dedicated to Professor Dr. Hans-Jürgen Rehm on the occasion of his 60th birthday     

Stability and activity of a phenol oxidase from the ligninolytic fungus Pleurotus ostreatus

Three different phenol oxidases produced by the basidiomycete fungus Pleurotus ostreatus have been isolated and their main structural, enzymatic and physico-chemical properties characterized. Studies have forcaused on the most abundantly secreated of these proteins, a copper-e nzyme specific towards ortho-diphenol substrates. This protein was purified to homogeneity and part of its primary structure determined by direct protein sequencing. The ingluence of pH, temperature and presence of water-soluible or water-insoluble organic solvents on the activity and stability of the enzyme were also investigated. These data can be used for applying bioarectors to problems of environmental concern such as waste-water treatmentCorrespondens to: G. Sannia     

Biochemical characterization, cDNA cloning and protein crystallization of aryl-alcohol oxidase from Pleurotus pulmonarius

Aryl-alcohol oxidase (AAO) involved in lignin degradation by Pleurotus pulmonarius has been purified and characterized. The enzyme was produced in glucose-peptone medium and isolated in a sole chromatographic step using Sephacryl S-200. The purified enzyme is an extracellular glycoprotein with 14% N-carbohydrate content and an estimated molecular mass of 70.5 kDa and pI of 3.95. The kinetic studies showed the highest enzyme affinity against p-anisyl alcohol, with constants similar to those of Pleurotus eryngii and Bjerkandera adusta AAO but different from the intracellular AAO described in Phanerochaete chrysosporium, which present the highest activity on m-anisyl alcohol. Simultaneously, the cDNA of P. pulmonarius AAO has been cloned and sequenced. The translation of this sequence consisted of 593 amino acids including a signal peptide of 27 amino acids. The comparison with other alcohol oxidases, 35% amino acid identity with glucose oxidase, showed highly conserved amino acid sequences in N-terminal and C-terminal regions, in spite of differences in substrate specificity. Crystallization of AAO, carried out for the first time using the P. pulmonarius enzyme, will permit to obtain a molecular model for this oxidase and establish some characteristic of its catalytic site and general structure.     

Plasma-coagulating and fibrinolytic activities of fungi in the genus Aspergillus

The exocellular plasmocoagulating and fibrinolytic activities were studied in 100 cultures of the Aspergillus genus belonging to 29 species during their submerged cultivation in three media. It has been found that 38 cultures can coagulate human plasma, 75 cultures can cause lysis of fibrin platelets, and 22 cultures are capable of dissolving standard plasma clots within 6 hours. The cultures synthesize three types of proteolytic enzymes according to the specificity toward blood proteins: (1) proteases with the predominant fibrinolytic action; (2) proteases which possess both the fibrinolytic and plasmocoagulating activities; (3) proteases manifesting only the plasmocoagulating action. A. ochraceus 19 producing individual plasmocoagulases and fibrinolytic enzymes at a high rate was isolated. The composition of the enzyme complex synthesized by the culture depended on the composition of the medium and on the cultivation conditions.     

Some characteristics of ammonia fungi 1. In relation to their ligninolytic enzyme activities

Twenty-six species of ammonia fungi comprising 71 strains were screened for ligninolytic activity using agar plate tests. The tests comprised a wood powder plate test, the Bavendamm reactions, and a Remazol Brilliant blue R (RBBR) decolorization test. The wood powder plate test detected phenol oxidases of Coprinus spp., whereas this method obviously detected no activities from facultative mycorrhizal fungi, such as Hebeloma radicosoides and ectomycorrhiza: H. spoliatum and H. vinosophyllum. With quantitative assays of ligninolytic activity, Coprinus phlyctidosporus, C. echinosporus, Lyophyllum tylicolor, Lepista nuda, L. tarda, Calocybe leucocephala, and Crucispora rhombisperma, which grow on oak-leaf litter, the major phenol-oxidizing enzyme was a laccase. The concentration of urea affected laccase activity; however, urea was not the obligate nitrogen source for the laccase production.     

Screening fungi for the production of an inhibitor of HMG CoA reductase: Production of mevinolin by the fungi of the genus Pleurotus

Abstract Two thermophilic archaea belonging to the genus Sulfolobus , grown on glucose, produced an extracellular polysaccharide (EPS). The production of EPS conducted both in 90 1 fermentor and in batch culture reached the maximum during the stationary phase of growth. The chemical analysis (FT-IR, HPAE-PAD, UV, Optical Rotation) of the biopolymer and of its acid hydrolizate suggested glucose, mannose, glucosamine and galactose as major components of the sulfated heteropolysaccharide.     

Site-directed mutagenesis of selected residues at the active site of aryl-alcohol oxidase, an H2O2-producing ligninolytic enzyme

Aryl-alcohol oxidase provides H(2)O(2) for lignin biodegradation, a key process for carbon recycling in land ecosystems that is also of great biotechnological interest. However, little is known of the structural determinants of the catalytic activity of this fungal flavoenzyme, which oxidizes a variety of polyunsaturated alcohols. Different alcohol substrates were docked on the aryl-alcohol oxidase molecular structure, and six amino acid residues surrounding the putative substrate-binding site were chosen for site-directed mutagenesis modification. Several Pleurotus eryngii aryl-alcohol oxidase variants were purified to homogeneity after heterologous expression in Emericella nidulans, and characterized in terms of their steady-state kinetic properties. Two histidine residues (His502 and His546) are strictly required for aryl-alcohol oxidase catalysis, as shown by the lack of activity of different variants. This fact, together with their location near the isoalloxazine ring of FAD, suggested a contribution to catalysis by alcohol activation, enabling its oxidation by flavin-adenine dinucleotide (FAD). The presence of two aromatic residues (at positions 92 and 501) is also required, as shown by the conserved activity of the Y92F and F501Y enzyme variants and the strongly impaired activity of Y92A and F501A. By contrast, a third aromatic residue (Tyr78) does not seem to be involved in catalysis. The kinetic and spectral properties of the Phe501 variants suggested that this residue could affect the FAD environment, modulating the catalytic rate of the enzyme. Finally, L315 affects the enzyme k(cat), although it is not located in the near vicinity of the cofactor. The present study provides the first evidence for the role of aryl-alcohol oxidase active site residues.     

Production of biomass and ligninolytic enzymes by Pleurotus ostreatus in submerged culture.

The production of biomass and ligninolytic enzymes by Pleurotus ostreatus was analysed in synthetic medium with yeast extract and different glucose concentrations (0.5 - 20 g/l), at different pH (3.5-6.5) and incubation temperatures (23-32 degrees C). The best culture condition were: initial glucose concentration of 5 g/l, initial pH between 5.5-6.5 and incubation temperature between 26-29 degrees C. The saturation constant for glucose (Ks) was 1.75 g/l. The biomass concentration reached 8.6 g/l with a glucose addition of 20.0 g/l to the culture medium. The control of pH allowed an increment of 0.5 g/l of biomass concentration. The birreactor produced pellets with a homogeneous distribution of diameter size of 3.4 -/+ 0.2 mm. Approximately, 307 U/l of laccase and 0.41 U/l of manganese peroxidase were obtained in extracellular liquid medium and 0.015 U/g of laccase and 0.809 U/g of manganese peroxidase were obtained in solid substrate. Lignin peroxidase activity was not detected at any condition.     

Mineralisation of 14C-labelled synthetic lignin and ligninolytic enzyme activities of litter-decomposing basidiomycetous fungi

Within a screening program, 27 soil litter-decomposing basidiomycetes were tested for ligninolytic enzyme activities using agar-media containing 2,2′-azinobis(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonate), a humic acid or Mn²⁺ ions as indicator substrates. Most active species were found within the family Strophariaceae (Agrocybe praecox, Stropharia coronilla, S. rugosoannulata) and used for mineralisation experiments with a ¹⁴C-ring-labelled synthetic lignin (¹⁴C-DHP). The fungi mineralised around 25% of the lignin to ¹⁴CO₂ within 12 weeks of incubation in a straw environment; about 20% of the lignin was converted to water-soluble fragments. Mn-peroxidase was found to be the predominant ligninolytic enzyme of all three fungi in liquid culture and its production was strongly enhanced in the presence of Mn²⁺ ions. The results of this study demonstrate that certain ubiquitous litter-decomposing basidiomycetes possess ligninolytic activities similar to the wood-decaying white-rot fungi, the most efficient lignin degraders in nature. Received: 20 April 2000 / Received revision: 12 July 2000 / Accepted: 16 July 2000     

Distribution of ligninolytic enzymes in selected white-rot fungi

Ten white-rot fungi have been screened for the production of ligninase, manganese peroxidase and laccase. Although the fungi degraded lignin efficiently, they significantly differed in the occurrence of individual ligninolytic enzymes. Based on the enzyme pattern produced under N-limited conditions, the fungi can be divided into the following four groups:1. ligninase-manganese peroxidase-laccase group,2. ligninase-manganese peroxidase group,3. manganese peroxidase-laccase group,4. laccase group.     

Influence of cadmium and mercury on activities of ligninolytic enzymes and degradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by Pleurotus ostreatus in soil

The white-rot fungus Pleurotus ostreatus was able to degrade the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) benzo[a]anthracene, chrysene, benzo[b]fluoranthene, benzo[k]fluoranthene, benzo[a]pyrene, dibenzo[a,h]anthracene, and benzo[ghi]perylene in nonsterile soil both in the presence and in the absence of cadmium and mercury. During 15 weeks of incubation, recovery of individual compounds was 16 to 69% in soil without additional metal. While soil microflora contributed mostly to degradation of pyrene (82%) and benzo[a]anthracene (41%), the fungus enhanced the disappearance of less-soluble polycyclic aromatic compounds containing five or six aromatic rings. Although the heavy metals in the soil affected the activity of ligninolytic enzymes produced by the fungus (laccase and Mn-dependent peroxidase), no decrease in PAH degradation was found in soil containing Cd or Hg at 10 to 100 ppm. In the presence of cadmium at 500 ppm in soil, degradation of PAHs by soil microflora was not affected whereas the contribution of fungus was negligible, probably due to the absence of Mn-dependent peroxidase activity. In the presence of Hg at 50 to 100 ppm or Cd at 100 to 500 ppm, the extent of soil colonization by the fungus was limited.