Laccases as Gold Standard Enzymes for Biotechnology

Abstract

Laccases are among the oldest known multi copper enzymes from a diverse array of species including bacteria and fungi, and are of great importance in different industries like beverage, biosensors, textile, paper and pulp. From the aspect of origin, interestingly bacterial laccase is of two kinds namely, 3-domain conventional laccase and 2-domain small laccase. This enzyme is capable of degrading synthetic textile azo dyes, xenobiotic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, biogenic amines etc. Over the last few years, laccase research has steadily grown based on biosensors and understanding the known unknowns. In this extensive review, we focus on classification, structural difference based on assorted origin and application that will help to know the unknown factors about this strenuous enzyme. Further for better understanding on origin-function relationship, hypothetical proteins of selected bacterial laccase are reviewed.