Abstract
Ligninolytic basidiomycetes (wood and leaf-litter-decaying fungi) have the ability to degrade low-rank coal (lignite). Extracellular manganese peroxidase is the crucial enzyme in the depolymerization process of both coal-derived humic substances and native coal. The depolymerization of coal by Mn peroxidase is catalysed via chelated Mn(III) acting as a diffusible mediator with a high redox potential and can be enhanced in the presence of additional mediating agents (e.g. glutathione). The depolymerization process results in the formation of a complex mixture of lower-molecular-mass fulvic-acid-like compounds. Experiments using a synthetic 14C-labeled humic acid demonstrated that the Mn peroxidase-catalyzed depolymerization of humic substances was accompanied by a substantial release of carbon dioxide (17%–50% of the initially added radioactivity was released as 14CO2). Mn peroxidase was found to be a highly stable enzyme that remained active for several weeks under reaction conditions in a liquid reaction mixture and even persisted in sterile and native soil from an opencast mining area for some days.
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Received: 31 July 1998 / Received revision: 29 September 1998 / Accepted: 2 October 1998
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Hofrichter, M., Ziegenhagen, D., Sorge, S. et al. Degradation of lignite (low-rank coal) by ligninolytic basidiomycetes and their manganese peroxidase system. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 52, 78–84 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/s002530051490
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s002530051490