Laccases: structure, function, and potential application in water bioremediation

Microbial Cell Factories

Leticia Arregui¹  Arturo Rojo-Domínguez¹  Marcela Ayala²  Guadalupe Gutiérrez-Soto³  Mario C. N. Saparrat⁴  Carlos Eduardo Hernández-Luna⁵  Laura Levin⁶  Mauricio A. Trujillo-Roldán⁷  Daniel Romero-Martínez⁷  Norma A. Valdez-Cruz⁷  Ximena Gómez-Gil⁷  Mayra Herrera de los Santos⁷ 

[1] Departamento de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Unidad Cuajimalpa;Departamento de Ingeniería Celular y Biocatálisis, Instituto de Biotecnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México;Facultad de Agronomía, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León;Instituto de Fisiología Vegetal (INFIVE), Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP)-CCT-La Plata-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y técnicas (CONICET);Laboratorio de Enzimología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León;Laboratorio de Micología Experimental, DBBE, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, INMIBO-CONICET;Programa de Investigación de Producción de Biomoléculas, Departamento de Biología Molecular y Biotecnología, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México;

关键词: Bioremediation;    Water bodies;    Laccases;    Emerging contaminants;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12934-019-1248-0

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Abstract The global rise in urbanization and industrial activity has led to the production and incorporation of foreign contaminant molecules into ecosystems, distorting them and impacting human and animal health. Physical, chemical, and biological strategies have been adopted to eliminate these contaminants from water bodies under anthropogenic stress. Biotechnological processes involving microorganisms and enzymes have been used for this purpose; specifically, laccases, which are broad spectrum biocatalysts, have been used to degrade several compounds, such as those that can be found in the effluents from industries and hospitals. Laccases have shown high potential in the biotransformation of diverse pollutants using crude enzyme extracts or free enzymes. However, their application in bioremediation and water treatment at a large scale is limited by the complex composition and high salt concentration and pH values of contaminated media that affect protein stability, recovery and recycling. These issues are also associated with operational problems and the necessity of large-scale production of laccase. Hence, more knowledge on the molecular characteristics of water bodies is required to identify and develop new laccases that can be used under complex conditions and to develop novel strategies and processes to achieve their efficient application in treating contaminated water. Recently, stability, efficiency, separation and reuse issues have been overcome by the immobilization of enzymes and development of novel biocatalytic materials. This review provides recent information on laccases from different sources, their structures and biochemical properties, mechanisms of action, and application in the bioremediation and biotransformation of contaminant molecules in water. Moreover, we discuss a series of improvements that have been attempted for better organic solvent tolerance, thermo-tolerance, and operational stability of laccases, as per process requirements.

【 授权许可】

Unknown