Abstract: | The isolation and characterization of glucose oxidase-negative (gox-) mutants of Phanerochaete chrysosporium, is described. These mutants are deficient not only in their ability to produce hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) but also in lignin degradation (2-14C-synthetic lignin14CO2), ligninase and peroxidase activities, decolorization of the dye poly-R 481, and production of ethylene from -oxo--methylthiobutyric acid (KTBA). The gox- mutants retained, albeit at a lower level, the capacity to produce veratryl alcohol, a typical secondary metabolite, and produced conidia at a level comparable to that of the wild type. The addition of ligninase and/or glucose oxidase to a gox- mutant (GOX-10) did not enhance its capacity to degrade lignin. The Gox+ revertant strains regained glucose oxidase activity, the ability to degrade lignin, as well as the other characteristics that were missing in the gox- mutants. The results suggest that the genetic lesion in these mutants affects the regulation of a set of secondary metabolic characteristics.Abbreviations Gox glucose oxidase - KTBA -oxo--methylthiobutyric acidJournal article no. 11740 from the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station |