title: [Antioxidant features of fungal melanin pigments].
abstract: Fungal melanin pigments were shown to display a high antioxidant activity. An increase in the number of methyl substituents in benzidine molecules of melanins obtained from micromycetes and macromycetes was accompanied by a decrease in the efficiency of inhibition of peroxidase-catalyzed oxidation. Melanins were found to have considerable gene-protecting properties. Pigments isolated from macromycetes and applied at a much lower concentration than those obtained from micromycetes prevented damage to bacteriophage-lambda DNA induced by products of peroxidase-catalyzed degradation of aminobiphenyls.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Microbiology, Belarussian Academy of Sciences, Minsk, Belarus.
authors.forename: V V
authors.initials: VV
authors.lastname: Shcherba
authors.forename: V G
authors.initials: VG
authors.lastname: Babitskaia
authors.forename: V P
authors.initials: VP
authors.lastname: Kurchenko
authors.forename: N V
authors.initials: NV
authors.lastname: Ikonnikova
authors.forename: T A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Kukulianskaia
mesh_terms: D000975:Antioxidants / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001487:Basidiomycota; D008543:Melanins / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D008543:Melanins