Reactions that generate oxygen molecules are exceedingly rare in biology and difficult to mimic synthetically. Perchlorate - respiring bacteria enzymatically detoxify chlorite, ClO− 2, the end product of the perchlorate, ClO− 4, respiratory pathway, by converting it to dioxygen, O2, and chloride, Cl−.[1] Chlorite dismutase is a heme-containing protein, but it bears no structural or sequence relationships with known peroxidases or other heme proteins and is part of a large family of proteins with more than one biochemical function.
References
^DuBois JL, Ojha S (2015). "Chapter 3: Production of Dioxygen in the Dark: Dismutases of Oxyanions". In Kroneck PM, Torres ME (eds.). Sustaining Life on Planet Earth: Metalloenzymes Mastering Dioxygen and Other Chewy Gases. Metal Ions in Life Sciences. Vol. 15. Springer. pp. 45–87. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-12415-5_3.
