Ligninolytic enzymes from corncob cultures of Phanerochaete chrysosporium under semi-solid-state conditions

The effects of adding some inducers of lignolytic activity to semi-solid-state cultures of Phanerochaete chrysosporium BKM-F-1767 (ATCC 24725) were investigated. The inducers assayed were veratryl alcohol and solid manganese (IV) oxide. The microorganism was cultured on corncob, which functioned both as physical support and source of nutrients. Supplementing the cultures with veratryl alcohol created the situation where manganese-dependent peroxidase (MnP) and lignin peroxidase (LiP) activities of approximately 1,500 U/l and 200 U/l, respectively, could be attained. These activities were considerably higher than those obtained in the reference cultures (about 5 and 4-fold). In the same way, the addition of manganese (IV) oxide led to MnP and LiP activity levels of about 2,000 U/l and 300 U/l, respectively. These activities were also notably above (about 6 and 5-fold, respectively) those achieved in the reference cultures. Moreover, laccase activity (around 200 U/l) was only detected in veratryl alcohol or manganese (IV) oxide supplemented cultures.