Author/Authors :
Dana, Majid Department of Biology - Faculty of Science - Payam Nour University , Tehran , Bakhshi Khaniki, Gholamreza Department of Biology - Faculty of Science - Payam Nour University , Tehran , Mokhtarieh, Amir Abbas Department of Biology - School of Biology - Damghan University , Javad Davarpanah3 Applied Biotechnology Research Center - Baqiyatallah University of Medical Science
Abstract :
Laccase is a polyphenol oxidase, highly glycosylated that mainly presents as
monomeric proteins with varying mass of 50-90 kDa. This enzyme oxidizes lignin
using molecular oxygen which produces water as the only by-product but it shows
specificity to broad range of substrates such as phenols including ortho- and
para-diphenols, amino phenols, methoxy phenols, polyphenols, polyamines, aryl
diamines and ascorbate. Laccase can be found in fungi, plants, insects and bacteria.
Laccases are involved in a wide range of biological functions including pigment
formation in fungi, ectomycorrhizal symbiosis, metabolism of proanthocyanidins,
virulence of pathogen fungi and sexual development. Regarding its unique function
it is getting more attention for novel applications in biosensors, microfuel and bioelectrocatalysis.
In addition, it is used in food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic, pulp
and paper and textile industries. It has especial potential to be used in bioremediation
to remove water and soil pollutions resulted from different industries. This has
made researchers to produce transgenic plants containing heterologous laccases to
be able phytoremediate polluted soil and water resources with chemicals including
different organophosphorus pesticides and nerve agents. Additionally, hydroponic
culture of these transgenic plants can be considered as an inexpensive approach for
commercial production of laccase exploiting rhizosecretion strategy.
Keywords :
Laccase , Fungi , Transgenic Plants , Phytoremediation , Pollution
