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Updated: Jun 13, 2026

Anaerobic Protein Purification and Kinetic Analysis via Oxygen Electrode for Studying DesB Dioxygenase Activity and Inhibition
Published on: October 3, 2018
Stepwise oxygenations of toluene and 4-nitrotoluene by a fungal peroxygenase
Matthias Kinne1, Christian Zeisig, René Ullrich
1Unit of Environmental Biotechnology, International Graduate School of Zittau, Markt 23, Zittau, Germany. kinne@ihi-zittau.de
Abstract:
Fungal peroxygenases have recently been shown to catalyze remarkable oxidation reactions. The present study addresses the mechanism of benzylic oxygenations catalyzed by the extracellular peroxygenase of the agaric basidiomycete Agrocybe aegerita. The peroxygenase oxidized toluene and 4-nitrotoluene via the corresponding alcohols and aldehydes to give benzoic acids. The reactions proceeded stepwise with total conversions of 93% for toluene and 12% for 4-nitrotoluene. Using H(2)(18)O(2) as the co-substrate, we show here that H(2)O(2) is the source of the oxygen introduced at each reaction step. A. aegerita peroxygenase resembles cytochromes P450 and heme chloroperoxidase in catalyzing benzylic hydroxylations.
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