Biochemical and molecular characterization of South African strains of Phanerochaete chrysosporium

Fifty-five strains of Phanerochaete chrysosporium were isolated in South Africa, and screened for indicators of ligninolytic activity: lignin peroxidase (LiP), manganese peroxidase (MnP) and glyoxal oxidase (GLOX). MnP-production as a function of time was followed in all strains. Nine strains were selected for quantification of MnP, LiP and GLOX activities. Statistically significant variation in MnP and GLOX activities existed among the different strains. Under low nitrogen, LiP activity of selected strains showed no significant variation, whereas strain PP25 had significantly increased LiP levels under high nitrogen conditions. Probing genomic DNA with the genes encoding lignin peroxidase (lipD and lipI1), manganese peroxidase (mnp2), and glyoxal oxidase (glox) showed significant genetic diversity with lignin peroxidase and manganese peroxidase probes, but not with the glyoxal oxidase probe.Articl