A STUDY OF THE BIOCONVERSION POTENTIAL OF THE FUNGUS BJERKANDERA-ADUSTA WITH RESPECT TO A PRODUCTION OF CHLORINATED AROMATIC-COMPOUNDS

Fluoro-labelled substrates and membrane inlet mass spectrometry (MIMS) was used to test the bioconversion potential of the white-rot fungus Bjerkandera adusta with respect to a production of novel halogenated a romatic compounds. The presence of a fluorine atom on the aromatic rin g of possible precursors to the well-known metabolites, 3-chloro-4-met hoxybenzaldehyde and 3,5-dichloro-4-methoxybenzaldehyde, did not influ ence the metabolism and they all gave mixed chloro-fluoro-methoxybenza ldehydes; however, we were unable to produce any new chlorinated compo unds. Neither supplementation of anisole, benzaldehyde, veratryl alcoh ol, the naphthalene analogs nor methyl-substituted benzaldehydes resul ted in a production of detectable amounts of the corresponding chlorin ated products. Apparently, only hydroxybenzaldehydes and/or methoxyben zaldehydes are chlorinated by the halogenating system. Experiments whe re an aromatic alcohol, aldehyde, or the analog acid was supplemented gave qualitatively and quantitatively similar membrane inlet mass spec tra suggesting that oxidases and reductases maintain a stoichiometric ration between these compounds. Several cases of hydroxylation and/or methoxylation of the substrates were also observed. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Inc.