Tyrosinase from Penicillium chrysogenum: Characterization and application in phenol removal from aqueous solution

The tyrosinase of Penicillium chrysogenum strain AUMC 14100 Accession No. MN219732 was purified to homogeneity and chemically modified by N-ethylmaleimide (NEM) and 5-(dimethylamino)naphthalene-1-sulfonyl chloride (dansyl chloride, DC). The inactivation of the purified enzyme obeyed pseudo-first-order reaction kinetics in the presence of NEM and DC (1-5 mM). The rate constants of the enzyme inactivation by NEM and DC were calculated to be 0.083 mol/min and 0.0013 mol/min, respectively. The recovery of enzyme activity by the protective effect of substrate indicates a non-specific modification of the active center. The order of tyrosinase inactivation kinetics and the substrate protection revealed the essentiality of sulfhydryl and lysyl residues in the enzyme active site and its role in the enzyme catalysis. The immobilized tyrosinase on alginate showed a gradual increase in residual activity over the immobilization time until the fourth hour. The desorptivity of tyrosinase was gradually raised with higher sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) concentrations. The immobilized enzyme retained about 70% of its original activity after 8 repeated cycles. Thus, immobilized tyrosinase of Penicillium chrysogenum removed 75% of phenol after 8 cycles and thus seems likely to be a good candidate for phenol removal in aqueous solution.