Abstract
An unbleached hardwood kraft pulp was bleached in vitro with partially purified manganese peroxidase (MnP) from the fungus Phanerochaete sordida YK-624 without the addition of MnSO$_4$ in the presence of oxalate, malonate or gluconate known as manganese chelator, When the pulp was treated without the addition of MnSO$_4$, the pulp brightness increased by about 10 points in the presence of 2 mM oxalate, but the brightness did not significantly increase in the presence of 50 mM malonate. Residual MnP activity decreased faster during the bleaching with MnP without MnSO$_4$ in the presence of malonate than in the presence of oxalate. Oxalate reduced MnO$_2$ which already existed in the pulp or was produced from $Mn^{2+}$ by oxidation with MnP and thus supplied $Mn^{2+}$ to the MnP system. Thus, bleaching of hardwood kraft pulp with MnP, using manganese originally existing in the pulp, became possible in the presence of oxalate, a good manganese chelator and reducing reagent. Properties of partially purified MnPs from liquid cultures of white rot fungi, Ganoderma sp. YK-505, Phanerochaete sordida YK-624 and Phanerochaete chrysosporium were compared. MnP from Ganoderma sp. YK-505 was superior to MnPs from P. sordida YK-624 and P. chrysosporium in stabilities against high temperature and high concentration of $H_2O$$_2$. The MnP from Ganoderma sp. YK-505 differed in pH-activity profile from other MnPs. These data suggest that MnP from Ganoderma sp. YK-505 has different structure from those of other fungi. Bleaching of hardwood kraft pulp using the MnP from ganoderma sp. YK-505 is now in progress.