Candida tropicalis yeast is a microorganism that possesses high tolerance for phenol and strong phenol degrading activity. This yeast is capable of utilizing phenol as the sole source of carbon and energy without formation of any secondary waste product. Catechol-1,2- dioxygenase was isolated from cytosolic fraction of this yeast by the procedure consisting of chromatography on DEAE-Sepharose and gel permeation chromatography on Sephadex G- 100. The catechol-1,2-dioxygenase was purified to homogeneity. The enzyme activity was followed by HPLC (catechol consumption and/or cis,cis-muconic acid formation). The activity profiles at different temperatures showed temperature optimum of 30řC. Kinetic characterizations were studying in different values of pH. The values of Km and Vmax of 0,52 mM and 17,2 nM/min for consumption of catechol, respectively, and 0,34 mM and 12,6 nM/min for formation of cis,cis-muconic acid, respectively, were found at optimum pH of the reaction, pH 7,6.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are recalcitrant organic pollutants, which occur widely in the environment. Some of these compounds are carcinogenic and toxic, many studies therefore focus on suitable remediation technologies. It has been shown that composting is an efficient treatment for contaminated solid matrices. Changes in several enzyme activities during co-composting of PAH-contaminated soil were studied in this thesis. The total initial concentration of analyzed PAHs in the soil was 1065 ± 86 µg·g-1 . The chosen activities represented well-known key enzymes involved in the transformation of PAHs or catechol as the central metabolite of PAH microbial degradation. At first, a method for extraction of the selected enzymes from the compost matrix was optimized. This approach was then used for the extraction of the enzymes from compost samples collected at each phase of composting. The activity of manganese peroxidase, laccase, tyrosinase and catechol-2,3-dioxygenase was detected during the cooling and the maturation phase. The only detected activity during the initial mesophilic phase was that of manganese peroxidase. The activities of catechol-1,2- dioxygenase and lignin peroxidase were not detected at all. Despite the fact that PAHs were substantially degraded, no influence of PAHs...

Effluents of industrial wastewaters from oil refineries, paper mills, dyes, ceramic factories, resins, textiles and plastic contain high concentrations of aromatic compounds, which are toxic to organisms. Degradation of these compounds to tolerant limits before releasing them into the environment is an urgent requirement. Candida tropicalis yeast is an important representative of eucaryotic microorganisms that are able to utilize phenol. During the first phase of phenol biodegradation, cytoplasmatic NADPH-dependent phenol hydroxylase of C. tropicatis oxidizes phenol to catechol. Catechol is in the second phase of biodegradative process oxidized to cis,cis-muconic acid by the reaction catalyzed with catechol-1,2-dioxygenase. In this diploma thesis we investigated the effect of the heavy metal ions on NADPH-dependent phenol hydroxylase and catechol-1,2-dioxygenase of C. tropicalis. Phenol hydroxylase was inhibited by Cu2+ and Pb2+ ions. Catechol dioxygenase was inhibited by all substances containing heavy metal ions (Fe2+ , Mn2+ , Cd2+ , Cu2+ and Pb2+ ), which were tested in this work. The most effective inhibition was produced by Pb2+ followed by Mn2+ , Cd2+ Fe2+ and Cu2+ ions. The higher sensitivity of catechol-1,2-dioxygenase to heavy metal ions might follow from the presence of histidine residue...

Rhenium complexes coordinated with suitable organic ligand gain increased interest in radiopharmaceutical medicine. Besides suitable radiological properties given by a metal ion itself, detailed knowledge of overall chemical properties of formed complexes, namely their exact structures, chemical stabilities and possible degradation pathways are essential pre-requisites for their clinical application. Selected rhenium complexes with pyrogallol 2,3-dihydroxynaphthalene and catechol as strongly bound ligands were prepared by a reaction of tetrabutylammonium tetrachlorooxorhenate with twofold molar excess of ligand in presence of various amount of triethylamine. The structures of formed complexes and their consequent reaction products were estimated by means of mass spectrometry with electrospray ionization. The kinetics of reactions in course of complex formation and consequent decomposition were primarily followed by UV- Vis absorption spectra measurement, complemented by single or continuous electrospray mass spectrometry analyses. Optimized HPLC and CZE procedures were utilized for monitoring of the composition of reaction mixtures in course of Re complex formation and for purity check of prepared complexes. Semi-preparative HPLC mode was succesfully utilized for isolation and final purification of...