|
The article entitled "Novel Biocatalysts Will
Work Even Better for Industry" published recently in this
Journal (1) was informative and interesting. However
it touched only briefly on the application of peroxidase
as catalyst. Here, we would like to mention in more
detail the novel applications of peroxidase in agricultural,
paper pulp, water treatment, pharmaceutical, and
medical situations. Firstly, the peroxidase isolated
from Phanerochaete chyrosporium has been shown to
detoxify herbicides such as atrazine to less toxic compounds
and would certainly find potential application in
agriculture (2). Secondly, the peroxidase produced by
Streptomyces thermoviolaceus may find application in the paper
pulp industry as a delignifying agent (3). Thirdly, it has
been shown that extracellular peroxidase produced by
Streptomyces avermitilis can remove the intense color
from paper-mill effluent obtained after semichemical
alkaline pulping of wheat straw (4), and thus this enzyme
might find application as a catalyst in water treatment
plants. Fourthly, the heme-containing horseradish
peroxidase enzyme has been exploited in several diagnostic
applications in pharmaceutics and medicine, such as the
detection of human immunodeficiency virus and cystic
fibrosis (510). Finally, recent work from our
laboratory has suggested that thermophilic nonheme
peroxidase produced by Thermomonospora
fusca BD25 may find medical use in the diagnosis of myocardial infarction
(11, 12).
Literature Cited
1. Wiseman, A. J. Chem. Educ.
1996, 73, 55-58.
2. Mougin, C. Appl. Environ. Microbiol.
1994, 60, 705-708.
3. McCarthy A. J.; Peace, W.; Broda, P.
Appl. Microbiol. Technol. 1985,
23, 238-244.
4. Hernandez, M; Rodriguez J; Soliveri, J; Copa, J. L; Perez, M.
I; Arias, M. E. Appl. Environ. Microbiol.
1994, 60, 3909-3913.
5. Hopfer, S. M.; Aslanzadeh, J. Ann. Clin. Lab.
Sci. 1995, 25, 475-480.
6. Suzuki, K; Iman, M. J. Virol. Methods
1995, 55, 347-356.
7. Nielsen, K. J. Immunoassay
1995, 16, 183-197.
8. Warhol, M. J.; Heitz, P. U. Lab.
Invest. 1992, 67, 263-269.
9. Pergande, M.; Jung, K. Clin.
Chem. 1993, 39, 1885-1890.
10. Allain, C. C; Poon, L. S.; Chan, C. S. G; Richmond, W.; Fu, P.
C. Clin. Chem. 1974, 20, 470-475.
11. Rob, A; Ball, A. S.; Tuncer, M; Wilson, M. T.
Biochem. Soc. Trans. 1995,
23, 507.
12. Rob, A.; Ball, A. S.; Tuncer, M.; Jones, G. D.; Taylor, P. D;
Wilson, M. T. Biochem. Soc. Trans.
1996, 24, 455.
|
Citation
