z-logo
Premium
Spatial mapping of extracellular oxidant production by a white rot basidiomycete on wood reveals details of ligninolytic mechanism
Author(s) -
Hunt Christopher G.,
Houtman Carl J.,
Jones Don C.,
Kitin Peter,
Korripally Premsagar,
Hammel Kenneth E.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
environmental microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.954
H-Index - 188
eISSN - 1462-2920
pISSN - 1462-2912
DOI - 10.1111/1462-2920.12039
Subject(s) - hypha , lignin , biology , fungus , chrysosporium , extracellular , bodipy , white rot , metabolite , biochemistry , botany , fluorescence , physics , quantum mechanics
Summary Oxidative cleavage of the recalcitrant plant polymer lignin is a crucial step in global carbon cycling, and is accomplished most efficiently by fungi that cause white rot of wood. These basidiomycetes secrete many enzymes and metabolites with proposed ligninolytic roles, and it is not clear whether all of these agents are physiologically important during attack on natural lignocellulosic substrates. One new approach to this problem is to infer properties of ligninolytic oxidants from their spatial distribution relative to the fungus on the lignocellulose. We grew P hanerochaete chrysosporium on wood sections in the presence of oxidant‐sensing beads based on the ratiometric fluorescent dye BODIPY 581/591. The beads, having fixed locations relative to the fungal hyphae, enabled spatial mapping of cumulative extracellular oxidant distributions by confocal fluorescence microscopy. The results showed that oxidation gradients occurred around the hyphae, and data analysis using a mathematical reaction–diffusion model indicated that the dominant oxidant during incipient white rot had a half‐life under 0.1 s. The best available hypothesis is that this oxidant is the cation radical of the secreted P . chrysosporium metabolite veratryl alcohol.

This content is not available in your region!

Continue researching here.

Having issues? You can contact us here