Chlorination and cleavage of lignin structures by fungal chloroperoxidases.

Two fungal chloroperoxidases (CPOs), the heme enzyme from Caldariomyces fumago and the vanadium enzyme from Curvularia inaequalis, chlorinated 1-(4-ethoxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-2-(2-methoxyphenoxy)-1,3-dihydroxypropane, a dimeric model compound that represents the major nonphenolic structure in lignin. Both enzymes also cleaved this dimer to give 1-chloro-4-ethoxy-3-methoxybenzene and 1,2-dichloro-4-ethoxy-5-methoxybenzene, and they depolymerized a synthetic guaiacyl lignin. Since fungal CPOs occur in soils and the fungi that produce them are common inhabitants of plant debris, CPOs may have roles in the natural production of high-molecular-weight chloroaromatics and in lignin breakdown.

Heterologous expression of the vanadium-containing chloroperoxidase from Curvularia inaequalis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and site-directed mutagenesis of the active site residues His(496), Lys(353), Arg(360), and Arg(490).

The vanadium-containing chloroperoxidase from the fungus Curvularia inaequalis is heterologously expressed to high levels in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Characterization of the recombinant enzyme reveals that this behaves very similar to the native chloroperoxidase. Site-directed mutagenesis is performed on four highly conserved active site residues to examine their role in catalysis. When the vanadate-binding residue His(496) is changed into an alanine, the mutant enzyme loses the ability to bind vanadate covalently resulting in an inactive enzyme. The negative charges on the vanadate oxygens are compensated by hydrogen bonds with the residues Arg(360), Arg(490), and Lys(353). When these residues are changed into alanines the mutant enzymes lose the ability to effectively oxidize chloride but can still function as bromoperoxidases. A general mechanism for haloperoxidase catalysis is proposed that also correlates the kinetic properties of the mutants with the charge and the hydrogen-bonding network in the vanadate-binding site.