ABSTRACT

In this era of global industrialization, there are a lot of emerging pollutants which are being released into the environment. Many oxidoreductases have been employed for the treatment of these contaminants, among them, fungal peroxidases played an important role. Fungal peroxidases have wide substrate specificity which can act on a number of recalcitrant compounds that are recalcitrant to degrade by conventional physical and chemical methods. There are two types of fungal peroxidases, i.e., ligninolytic and non-ligninolytic peroxidases. Ligninolytic peroxidases are the components of ligninolytic system of fungi employed for the degradation of complex structure of lignin. Therefore, these peroxidases have wide substrate specificity, targeting the complex structures of different types of pollutants. These include lignin peroxidase, manganese peroxidase, and versatile peroxidase. Non- ligninolytic peroxidases have other physiological functions in fungi, and can act on recalcitrant dyes and aromatic compounds, especially phenolic compounds. These consist of Arthromyces ramosus peroxidase, Coprinus cinereus peroxidase, heme-thiolate peroxidases, and dye decolorization peroxidases.

In this chapter, light has been thrown on the characteristics of different fungal peroxidases and the main fungi producing these peroxidases. In addition to this, the role of ligninolytic and non-ligninolytic peroxidases in the degradation of different class of pollutants has also been discussed.