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Plant peroxidases are capable of binding phenolic substrates, and it has been possible to crystallize complexes between horseradish peroxidase C (HRP C) and benzhydroxamic acid. The X-ray structures of the binary HRP C: ferulic acid com-plex and the ternary HRP C: CN-: ferulic acid complex to 2.0 and 1.45 A resolution, respectively, have also been solved recently. Ferulic acid is a naturally occurring phenolic compound found in the plant cell wall and it is an in vivo substrate for plant peroxidases. The X-ray structures dem-onstrate the flexibility of the aromatic-donor-binding site in plant peroxidases and highlight the role of the distal arginine in substrate oxidation and ligand binding. A general mechanism of peroxidase substrate oxidation (compound I + compound I1 and compound I1 + resting state) can be proposed on the basis of the complexes and a large body of biochemical evidence