Subcellular localization of vanillyl-alcohol oxidase in Penicillium simplicissimum

Growth of Penicillium simplicissimum on anisyl alcohol, veratryl alcohol or 3-(methoxymethyl)phenol, is associated with the synthesis of relatively large amounts of the hydrogen peroxide producing flavoprotein vanillyl-alcohol oxidase (VAO), Immunocytochemistry revealed that the enzyme has a dual location namely in peroxisomes and in the cytosol, The C-terminus of the primary structure of VAO displays a WKL-COOH sequence which might function as a peroxisomal targeting signal type 1 (PTS1). As VAO activity results in production of hydrogen peroxide also the subcellular location of a recently characterized co-inducible catalase-peroxidase was studied, As VAO, this hydroperoxidase is also distributed throughout the cytosol and peroxisomes. (C) 1998 Federation of European Biochemical Societies.