Discovery of a new subfamily expands the catalytic versatility of vanillyl alcohol oxidases.

ABSTRACT: Flavoenzymes of the 4-phenol oxidoreductase family are versatile biocatalysts that catalyze the oxidation of a wide variety of phenol derivatives to alcohols, aldehydes, ketones or alkenes. The promiscuous FAD-dependent vanillyl alcohol oxidases from Penicillium simplicissimum (PsVAO) and Diplodia corticola (DcVAO) have been described to catalyze the oxidative deamination of p-hydroxybenzylamines, giving rise to valuable flavor compounds, but starting from p-alkyl substituted phenols, the ketones are usually not accessible as these oxidases preferably stop at chiral benzylic alcohols. Here we took a closer look into the fungal VAO family with the aim to identify new members that can perform this deamination reaction and also the overoxidation of be

SUBMITTER: Weindorf N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12909556 | biostudies-literature | 2026

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature