Lignin peroxidase catalysis

Effect of pH on Lignin Peroxidase Catalysis. The oxidation of organic substrates by lignin peroxidase (Vmax) has a pH optimum equal to or possibly below 2. Detailed studies have been performed on the pH dependency of many of the individual reactions involved in catalysis. The effect of pH on the reaction rates between the isolated ferric enzyme, compounds I or II and their respective substrates has been studied. Rapid kinetic data indicate that compound I formation from ferric enzyme and H2O2 is not pH dependent from pH 2.5-7.5 (75,16). Similar results are obtained with Mn-dependent peroxidase (14). This is in contrast to other peroxidases where the pKa values for the reaction of ferric enzyme with H2O2 are usudly in the range of 3 to 6 (72). 

Although compound I formation is not influenced by pH, reactions of compounds I and II are significantly affected by pH. These reactions are acid-catalyzed 16,17). The rate constant for the oxidation of veratryl alcohol or fenocyanide by lignin peroxidase compound I is 10 times greater at pH 3.5 than at pH 6.0. The enhancement in rate is of the same magnitude for compound II reacting with veratryl alcohol. Therefore, the observed pH dependency for Vmax in catalysis is due to the pH-dependent reactions between the compounds I and n and the reducing substrates. 

Because the three-dimensional structures of the peroxidase, its reductant cytochrome c, and the complex of the two (Fig. 16-9) are known, cytochrome c peroxidase is the subject of much experimental study. Other fungal peroxidases, some of which contain manganese rather than iron, act to degrade lignin (Chapter 25).218 A lignin peroxidase from the white wood-rot fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium has a surface tryptophan with a specifically hydroxylated C(3 carbon atom which may have a functional role in catalysis.2183 0... 

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