Laccase-like Activity of Nucleoside Oxidase in the Presence of Nucleosides

Abstract

Nucleoside oxidase that was purified to an electrophretically homogeneous state catalyzed the oxidation of hydroquinone only in the presence of nucleosides simultaneously with the oxidation of nucleosides. From the identification of the reaction products and a chemical balance study, we concluded that the oxidation of hydroquinone proceeded by the following scheme: 2 hydroquinone + O₂→2p-quinone + 2H₂O. The enzyme also catalyzed the oxidation of various phenolic compounds and strongly colored substances were formed from phenolic compounds with 4-aminoantipyrine in proportion to the amount of nucleosides.