On the other hand, degradation of the fungicides
TM and IMZ proceeded without a significant increase in the activity of Lac and MnP in the fungal cultures compared to the corresponding controls. These find- ings indicate that the LMEs are not involved in the degradation of these pesticides and probably other enzymes are responsible. This is in line with several previous studies which have not found any correla- tion between pesticide degradation and LMEs. For example, Hiratsuka et al. (2001) reported that T. versicolor was able to degrade a range of diphenyl-ether herbicides without the involvement of LMEs. Instead, cytochorome P450 monoxygenases were found to mediate the initially hydroxylation of the herbicides.