Phenoloxidase production and vanillic acid metabolism by Zygomycetes

The ability of 23 strains of Zygomycetes to produce extracellular phenoloxidases was examined on solid media by using 10 different reagents. The results varied depending on the reagent and indicated that most of the strains were devoid of phenoloxidase activity. The production of inducible phenoloxidases was demonstrated by the Bavendamm reaction. The study of the biotransformation of vanillic acid in synthetic medium indicated that the reaction most often obtained was the reduction of vanillic acid to vanillyl alcohol. Helicostylum piriforme and Rhizopus microsporus var. chinensis completely metabolized vanillic acid while good transformation was obtained with Absidia spinosa, Cunninghamella bainieri, Mucor bacilliformis, Mucor plumbeus, Rhizopus arrhizus, Rhizopus stolonifer, Syncephalastrum racemosum and Zygorhynchus moelleri. Other strains did not degrade or poorly degraded vanillic acid. Decarboxylation and demethoxylation of this compound was independent of the production of phenoloxidases as in the case of white-rot fungi. Other enzymatic systems might be implicated in this phenomenon.