ABSTRACT
Lignin is a complex, polydisperse polymer of phenylpropanoid subunits (see chapter on lignin chemistry). Lignin is generally resistant to biodegradation,l-2 but can be decomposed by higher basidiomycetous fungi which promote wood decay (see literature in Highley and Dashek).3 One of the main reactions of this fungal-induced deploymerization is oxidative cleavage of the propyl backbone between Ca and C~). The white-rot fungus, Phaneorchaete chrysosporium Burds produces a ligninase which catalyzes the reaction with lignin and lignin model dimers.4-6
The literature regarding ligninases and manganese-dependent peroxidases (enzymes involved is Mnll oxidation) is copious, and the reader is referred to selected references7-10 which conclude this brief treatment of lignin degradation. Recently, Highley and Dashek3 included a molecular biological treatment of ligninases and manganese-dependent peroxidases in their biotechnological review of white-rot and brown-rot-induced wood decay. This review contains extensive contemporary references regarding ligninases and manganese-dependent peroxidase.
