Mineralization of synthetic humic substances by manganese peroxidase from the white-rot fungus Nematoloma frowardii

Abstract

A manganese peroxidase preparation from the white-rot fungus Nematoloma frowardii was found to be capable of releasing up to 17% ¹⁴CO₂ from ¹⁴C-labelled synthetic humic substances. The latter were prepared from [U-¹⁴C]catechol by spontaneous oxidative polymerization or laccase-catalysed polymerization. The ex-tent of humic substance mineralization was considerably enhanced in the presence of the thiol mediator glutathione (up to 50%). Besides the evolution of ¹⁴CO₂, the treatment of humic substances with Mn peroxidase resulted in the formation of lower-molecular-mass products. Analysis of residual radioactivity by gel-permeation chromatography demonstrated that the predominant molecular masses of the initial humic substances ranged between 2 kDa and 6 kDa; after treatment with Mn peroxidase, they were reduced to 0.5–2 kDa. The extracellular depolymerization and mineralization of humic substances by the Mn peroxidase system may play an important role in humus turnover of habitats that are rich in basidiomycetous fungi.