Biodegradation of environmental pollutants by the white rot fungus phanerochaete chrysosporium

The white rot fungus, Phanerochaete chrysosporium secretes a unique hydrogen peroxide-dependent oxidase capable of degrading lignin, a highly complex, chemically resistant, non-repeating heteropolymer. Due to its ability to generate carbon-centered radicals, this enzyme is able to non-specifically catalyze numerous cleavage reactions producing smaller lignin-derived compounds which may then be metabolized by more conventional enzyme systems. The authors have proposed that the lignin-degrading system of this fungus may also have the ability to degrade environmentally persistent organopollutants. In the study P. chrysosporium is shown to able to degrade carbon-14 labeled 1,1'-Bis(4-chlorophenyl)-2,2,2-trichloroethane (DDT), 3,4,3',4'-tetrachlorobiphenyl, 2,4,5,2',4',5'-hexachlorobiphenyl, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), the gamma isomer of 1,2,3,4,5,6-hexachlorocyclohexane (Lindane) as well as the non-halo-genated pollutant benzo(a)pyrene to (14)C-carbon dioxide.