Abstract
A yeast strain isolated from soil by enrichment on phenol as major carbon source was identified as Candida tropicalis. Washed cell suspensions of this strain and cell-free preparations obtained from mechanically disrupted cells oxidized phenol via catechol and cis, cis-muconate.
In addition to phenol and the three isomeric diphenols, a number of phenol derivatives, amongst them fluoro-, nitro- and short-chain alkyl-phenols, were oxidized by the organism. However, no significant oxygen uptake could be demonstrated in the presence of pyrogallol, phloroglucinol, the cresols, the m-and p-hydroxy-benzoates, methoxylated phenol derivatives, benzene or toluene.
Cell-free preparations from the yeast strain exhibited activity of phenol hydroxylase and of catechol 1,2-oxygenase. Both enzymes appeared in the soluble cell fraction. Both exhibit broad substrate specificities. The relative specific activity of the ring-cleaving enzyme towards various substrates seems to be dependent on the phenolic inducer.
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Neujahr, H.Y., Lindsjö, S. & Varga, J.M. Oxidation of phenols by cells and cell-free enzymes from Candida tropicalis . Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 40, 209–216 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00394378
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00394378