Article : ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering

Fungal glutathione transferases as tools to explore the chemical diversity of Amazonian wood extractives T Perrot, mathieu Schwartz, F Saiag, G Salzet, S Dumarcay, F Favier, … ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering

Abstract

The natural durability of wood is linked to its chemical composition and in particular the presence of metabolites called extractives that possess often chemical reactivity. To deal with these compounds, wood degraders have developed detoxification systems usually involving enzyme families. Among these enzymes, glutathione transferases (GSTs) are involved in the decrease of the reactivity of toxic compounds. In this study, the hypothesis that the detoxification systems of wood decaying fungi could be indicators of the chemical reactivity of wood extracts has been tested. This approach has been evaluated using thirty-two wood extracts coming from French Guiana species, testing their antimicrobial ability, their antioxidative properties and their reactivity against six GSTs from the white rot Trametes versicolor. From the obtained data, a significant correlation between the antimicrobial and antioxidative properties of the tested wood extracts and GSTs interaction was established. In addition, the chemical analysis performed on one of the most reactive extract (an acetonic extract of Bagassa guianensis) has demonstrated oxyresveratrol as a major constituent. We were able to co-crystallize one GST with this commercially interesting compound. Taken together, the presented data support the hypothesis that detoxifying enzymes could be used to identify presence of molecules of industrial interest in wood extracts.