Biosynthesis, purification, characterization and immobilization of laccase from Lithothelium sp.

2 Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, 11 Saulėtekio Avenue, 10223 Vilnius, Lithuania Novel fungal laccase isoenzymes (namely L95-1 and L95-2) produced by the Ascomycete Lithothelium sp. isolated from the forest soil were purified. However, only one of them was characterized, because the other isoenzyme lost its activity during purification. Extracellular L95-1 laccase was purified 30-fold using ion-exchange and hydrophobic interaction chromatography, with an overall yield of 88%. The molecular mass of purified L95-1 was estimated to be 85 kDa by SDS-PAGE analysis. L95-1 laccase was stable at temperature 4–22°C and pH 6.0–6.5. The substrate specificity of L95-1 laccase was examined with various compounds. Determined affinity constants (KM) varied in a wide range of 3.7–2020.0 μM, whereas catalytic efficiency constants (kcat/KM) covered a range of 0.008–1.9 μM–1 s–1. The optimum pH for most substrates varied in a range from pH 5.0 to 6.0. Sodium azide and fluoride strongly inhibited L95-1 activity, whereas sulphate salts inhibited weakly. The laccase was immobilized on the Fe3O4 nanoparticles and characterized. Residual activity remained at 20% after ten cycles of ABTS oxidation reaction. The immobilized laccase showed higher tolerance to various metal salts. The properties of L95-1 laccase make it potentially useful in the biotechnological applications.