Lignin-degrading Basidiomycete Phanerochaete Chrysosporium Research Articles

Molecular characterization of cytochrome P450 catalyzing hydroxylation of benzoates from the white-rot fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium

We cloned full-length cDNA ( PcCYP1f) encoding one of the cytochrome P450s in the lignin-degrading basidiomycete Phanerochaete chrysosporium, which showed high homology to P450s in the CYP53 family. PcCYP1f was expressed as an active microsomal protein using the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris expression system. Using the microsomal fraction containing PcCYP1f, a typical P450 CO-difference spectrum was obtained with absorption maximum at 448 nm. Recombinant PcCYP1f catalyzed the hydroxylation of benzoic acid into 4-hydroxybenzoic acid in the presence of NADPH and P. chrysosporium cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase. In contrast to other CYP53 P450s, this enzyme was shown to catalyze the hydroxylation of 3-hydroxybenzoate into 3,4-dihydroxybenzoate. Furthermore, 2- and 3-methylbenzoate were also shown to be substrates of PcCYP1f. This is the first report showing the expression of a functionally active Phanerochaete P450. Finally, real-time quantitative PCR analysis revealed that PcCYP1f is induced at a transcriptional level by exogenous addition of benzoic acid.

Metabolic mechanisms involved in hydroxylation reactions of diphenyl compounds by the lignin-degrading basidiomycete Phanerochaete chrysosporium

Biphenyl (BP), biphenylene (BN), dibenzofuran (DF), dibenzo- p-dioxin (DD), and diphenyl ether (DE) were utilized as diphenyl substrates for the lignin-degrading basidiomycete, Phanerochaete chrysosporium and its extracellular enzyme, lignin peroxidase (LiP). Among these compounds, only BN and DD were oxidized by LiP. Cyclic voltammetry measurement revealed that BN and DD possess lower redox potentials than other diphenyl substrates utilized, being accordance with a reactivity of LiP. Although the degradations of BP, DF and DE were not extracellularly initiated by LiP, they were metabolized via an intermediate formation of hydroxylated products by intracellular enzymes. Upon addition of piperonyl butoxide, a cytochrome P450 inhibitor, these hydroxylation reactions were effectively inhibited, indicating the involvement of cytochrome P450s. Thus, two individual mechanisms seem to be compulsory for P. chrysosporium to metabolize a wide variety of recalcitrant diphenyl compounds; one is the activation of the aromatic ring via LiP catalyzed one-electron oxidation forming the aryl cation radical and the other is the activation of molecular oxygen by cytochrome P450 enzymes causing hydroxylation reactions on the aromatic ring.

A homokaryotic derivative of a Phanerochaete chrysosporium strain and its use in genomic analysis of repetitive elements.

Analysis of complex gene families in the lignin-degrading basidiomycete Phanerochaete chrysosporium has been hampered by the dikaryotic nuclear condition. To facilitate genetic investigations in P. chrysosporium strain BKM-F-1767, we isolated a homokaryon from regenerated protoplasts. The nuclear condition was established by PCR amplification of five unlinked genes followed by probing with allele-specific oligonucleotides. Under standard nitrogen-limited culture conditions, lignin peroxidase, manganese peroxidase, and glyoxal oxidase activities of the homokaryon were equivalent to those of the parental dikaryon. We used the homokaryon to determine the genomic organization and to assess transcriptional effects of a family of repetitive elements. Previous studies had identified an insertional mutation, Pce1, within lignin peroxidase allele lipI2. The element resembled nonautonomous class II transposons and was present in multiple copies in strain BKM-F-1767. In the present study, three additional copies of the Pce1-like element were cloned and sequenced. The distribution of elements was nonrandom; all localized to the same 3.7-Mb chromosome, as assessed by segregation analysis and Southern blot analysis of the homokaryon. Reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) showed that Pce1 was not spliced from the lipI2 transcript in either the homokaryon or the parental dikaryon. However, both strains had equivalent lignin peroxidase activity, suggesting that some lip genes may be redundant.

Degradation of pentachlorophenol by Phanerochaete chrysosporium: intermediates and reactions involved.

Under nitrogen-limiting, secondary metabolic conditions, the lignin-degrading basidiomycete Phanerochaete chrysosporium rapidly degrades pentachlorophenol. The pathway for the degradation of pentachlorophenol has been elucidated by the characterization of fungal metabolites and oxidation products generated by purified lignin peroxidase (LiP) and manganese peroxidase (MnP). The multi-step pathway is initiated by a LiP- or MnP-catalysed oxidative dechlorination reaction to produce tetrachloro-1,4-benzoquinone. Under primary or secondary metabolic conditions, the quinone is further degraded by two parallel pathways with cross-links. The quinone is reduced to tetrachlorodihydroxybenzene, which can undergo four successive reductive dechlorinations to produce 1,4-hydroquinone, and the latter is o-hydroxylated to form the final aromatic metabolite, 1,2,4-trihydroxybenzene. Alternatively, the tetrachloro-1,4-benzoquinone is converted, either enzymically or nonenzymically, to 2,3,5-trichlorotrihydroxybenzene, which undergoes successive reductive dechlorinations to produce 1,2,4-trihydroxybenzene. Finally, at several points, hydroxylation reactions convert chlorinated dihydroxybenzenes to chlorinated trihydroxybenzenes, linking the two pathways at each of these steps. Presumably, the 1,2,4-trihydroxybenzene produced in each pathway is ring-cleaved with subsequent degradation to CO2. In contrast to the oxidative dechlorination step, the reductive dechlorinations and hydroxylations occur during both primary and secondary metabolic growth. Apparently, all five chlorine atoms are removed from the substrate prior to ring cleavage.

A reporter gene construct for studying the regulation of manganese peroxidase gene expression.

The orotidylate decarboxylase (ODase) gene (ura1) from Schizophyllum commune was utilized as a reporter for studying Mn regulation of the manganese peroxidase (MnP) gene (mnp) from the lignin-degrading basidiomycete Phanerochaete chrysosporium. A 1,500-bp fragment of the mnp1 promoter was fused upstream of the coding region of the ODase gene in a plasmid (pAMO) containing the S. commune ade5 gene as a selectable marker. pAMO was used to transform a P. chrysosporium ade1 ura11 mutant lacking endogenous ODase activity. When the P. chrysosporium transformant was grown in nitrogen-limited, Mn(II)-sufficient cultures, ODase activity was detected only during secondary metabolic growth and the pattern of ODase expression was similar to that of endogenous MnP. When Mn was added to 6-day-old nitrogen-limited, Mn-deficient cultures, both ODase activity and MnP activity were induced synchronously with maximal activity at 30 h. Growth in high-nitrogen-concentration medium suppressed the induction of both the ODase and endogenous MnP. These results indicate that this promoter-reporter construct can be used to study the regulation of the mnp gene.

Cloning and characterization of cDNA encoding glyoxal oxidase, a H2O2-producing enzyme from the lignin-degrading basidiomycete Phanerochaete chrysosporium.

Glyoxal oxidase is produced by ligninolytic cultures of the white-rot fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium and is a source of the extracellular H2O2 that is required by ligninolytic peroxidases. We report here the cloning and characterization of glx-1c cDNA, which encodes glyoxal oxidase. The deduced mature protein has 537 amino acids, a molecular size of 57 kDa, and a pI of 5.1. Five potential N-glycosylation sites are present. The predicted N-terminal sequence is identical to the experimentally determined sequence of purified enzyme and is preceded by a leader peptide of 22 amino acids. The sequence of glx-1c lacks significant homology with known sequences. Specific comparisons were made between the glx-1c translated sequence and that of galactose oxidase from Dactylium dendroides because of previously observed catalytic similarities of the enzyme. Although no significant homology is observed, in both cases extensive beta-sheet regions are predicted from the primary sequences. Glyoxal oxidase activity correlates with transcript levels and is also coordinate with the lignin peroxidases in nutrient nitrogen-starved cultures.

Characterization of extracellular peroxidases produced by acetate-buffered cultures of the lignin-degrading basidiomycete Phanerochaete chrysosporium

Growth of Phanerochaete chrysosporium in a nitrogen-limited medium buffered with sodium acetate, instead of the commonly used 2,2-dimethylsuccinate (DMS), resulted in quantitative and qualitative differences in the production of various extracellular lignin peroxidases (LIPs) and manganese-dependent peroxidases (MNPs) involved in lignin degration. The results indicate that production of LIPs and MNPs can be selectively enhanced by manipulation of culture conditions. Partial N-terminal analyses of the major LIPs and MNPs have made it possible to assign a specific protein to the specific genes and cDNAs that have been reported recently. The LIPs and MNPs differed widely in their ability to decolorize various dyes that are known to be degraded by the lignin degrading enzyme system of P. chrysosporium.

Transformation of Phanerochaete chrysosporium and Neurospora crassa with adenine biosynthetic genes from Schizophyllum commune

Protoplasted basidiospores of two different adenine auxotrophs of the lignin-degrading basidiomycete Phanerochaete chrysosporium were transformed to prototrophy using plasmids containing genes encoding adenine biosynthetic enzymes from Schizophyllum commune. Fragments containing these genes were subcloned into pUC18 and P. chrysosporium transformants obtained with these subclones were analyzed. The subclones were mapped for restriction sites and the approximate locations of the complementing genes were determined. One of these plasmids was used to transform the Neurospora crassa auxotrophic strain ade2, thereby identifying the S. commune ade5 biosynthetic gene as encoding phosphoribosylaminoimidazole synthetase.

Biosynthesis of the secondary metabolite veratryl alcohol in relation to lignin degradation in Phanerochaete chrysosporium

The lignin-degrading basidiomycete Phanerochaete chrysosporium synthesizes veratryl alcohol (3,4-dimethoxybenzyl alcohol) via phenylalanine, 3,4-dimethoxycinnamyl alcohol and veratrylglycerol. Study of the conversion of 3,4-dimethoxycinnamyl alcohol to veratrylglycerol and veratryl alcohol showed is to be (a) catalyzed by a secondary metabolic system, (b) markedly suppressed by culture agitation, and (c) strongly inhibited by l-glutamate. The amount of veratryl alcohol synthesized de novo was positively correlated with the O2 concentration after primary growth. Other work has shown that the cinnamyl alcohol terminal residue in a lignin substructure model compound is degraded via arylglycerol and benzyl alcohol structures in ligninolytic cultures of P. chrysosporium, and that the ligninolytic system exhibits traits (a)-(c) above. Ligninolytic activity is also strongly and positively correlated with O2 concentration. The results here suggest, therefore, that the actual biosynthetic secondary metabolic product is 3,4-dimethoxycinnamyl alcohol, but that this is degraded by the ligninolytic system to veratryl alcohol via veratrylglycerol. Veratryl alcohol is only slowly metabolized by the fungus, and accumulates.