Plant Biochemistry of Xenobiotics. Mineralization of Chloroaniline/Lignin Metabolites from Wheat by the White-Rot Fungus, Phanerochaete chrysosporium

Abstract

Abstract The lignin metabolites formed in wheat plants from [ring-u-14C]-4-chloroaniline and -3,4-dichloroaniline were isolated by a Björkman-type procedure and characterized by gel permeation chromatography and chemical degradation. The isolated metabolite fractions were then incubated with the white-rot fungus, Phanerochaete chrysosporium. Mineralization to [14C]carbon dioxide occurred in high yields, about 65% of the initial radio­activity of the lignin-bound chloroanilines being trapped as CO2 after an incubation period of 32-33 days. The lignin metabolites with the 14C-label in the aromatic ring of the chloroanilines were mineralized as readily as a non-xenobiotic control lignin with a 14C-label in the aromatic ring of coniferyl alcohol. It is concluded that the white-rot fungus studied has an unusually high capacity for the removal of chloroanilines and possibly other xenobiotic contaminants from the environment.