Oxygenase properties of the (4-hydroxybenzoyl)methanol-cleavage enzyme from an Alcaligenes sp.

Studies using H2(18)O and 18O2 demonstrated that, in the cleavage of (4-hydroxybenzoyl)methanol to 4-hydroxybenzoic and formic acids by an enzyme from an Alicaligenes sp., oxygen is incorporated into both products from dioxygen and not from water. The enzyme is, therefore, an oxygenase.