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Oxidation of formaldehyde by alcohol oxidase of Candida boidinii

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Abstract

A formaldehyde oxidase activity was found in cell-free extracts of methanol-grown yeast Candida boidinii. Loss of alcohol oxidase activity in a mutant, 48, led to loss of the formaldehyde oxidase activity, indicating that the same enzyme is probably responsible for both activities. This could be demonstrated with the purified alcohol oxidase which oxidizes, besides lower primary alcohols, formaldehyde to formate. The K m value for formaldehyde is 5.7 mM. It seems that alcohol oxidase is not implicated in formaldehyde oxidation in vivo.

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Sahm, H. Oxidation of formaldehyde by alcohol oxidase of Candida boidinii . Arch. Microbiol. 105, 179–181 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00447134

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