• Journal of Korea Technical Association of The Pulp and Paper Industry
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• v.38 no.5 s.118
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• pp.1-8
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• 2006

This study was performed to evaluate extensive electrochemical characteristics of 23 commercially available mediators for laccase. Electrochemical properties, interactions with laccases, and ability to degrade lignin were compared for selected mediators. Among them, NNDS has very similar electrochemical properties in terms of reversibility and redox potential (about 470 mV vs. Ag/AgCl at pH=7) compared to ABTS which is a well-known mediator. Specific activity of purified laccase from Cerrena unicolor was determined by both 2,2'-azino-bis-(3-ethylbenz-thiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) and 1-nitroso-2-naphthol -3,6-disulfonic acid (NNDS). The specific activity of the laccase was 23.2 units/mg with ABTS and 21.2 units/mg with NNDS. The electron exchange rate for NNDS with laccase was very similar to that for ABTS, which meant that NNDS had similar mediating capability to ABTS. Determining methanol concentration after reacting with laccase compared to lignin degradation capabilities of both ARTS and NNDS. ARTS or NNDS alone cannot degrade lignin, but in the presence of laccase enhanced the rate of lignin degradation. ABTS showed better activity in the beginning, and the reaction rate of NNDS with lignin was about a half of that of ABTS at 10 minute, but the final concentration of methanol produced in 1 hour was very similar each other. The reason for similar methanol concentration for both ABTS and NNDS can be interpreted as the initial activity of ABTS was better than that of NNDS, but ABTS would be inhibited laccase activity more during the incubation.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.369-375
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• 2001

Urushiol, a natural monomeric oil, was used to prepare a detergentless micro-emulsion with water and 2-propanol The formation of micro-emulsion was verified by conductivity measurements and dynamic light scattering. The conductivity data showed phase change dynamics, a characteristics of micro-emulsions, and subsequent dynamic light scattering study further confirmed the phenomenon. Average water droplet diameter was 10 nm to 500 nm when the molar ratio of 2-propanol ranged from 0.40 to 0.44 . Earlier studies were performed on toluene and hexane, in which the insoluble substrate in water phase was added to the solvents to be reacted on by enzymes. However, in the present urushiol system, urushiol was used as both solvent and substrate in the laccase polymerization of urushiol. The laccase activity in the system was examined using polymerization of urushiol. The laccase activity in the system was examined using syringaldezine as a substrate, and the activity increased rapidly near the molar ratio of 2-propanol at 0.4, where micro-emulsion started. The activity rose until 0.46 and fell dramatically thereafter. The study of laccase activity in differing mole fractions of 2-propanol showed the existence of an ‘optimal zone’, where the activity of laccase was significantly higher. In order to analyze urushiol polymerization by laccase, a bubble column reactor using a detergentless micro-emulsion system was constructed. Comparative study using other organic solvents systems were conducted and the 2-propanol system was shown to yield the highest polymerization level. The study of laccase activity at a differing mole fraction of 2-propanol showed the existence of an ‘optimal zone’ where the activity was significantly higher. Also, 3,000 cP viscosity was achieved in actual urushi processing, using only 1/100 level of laccase present in urushi.

• Mycobiology
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.322-330
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• 2014

The aim of this study was to identify and characterize new Flammulina velutipes laccases from its whole-genome sequence. Of the 15 putative laccase genes detected in the F. velutipes genome, four new laccase genes (fvLac-1, fvLac-2, fvLac3, and fvLac-4) were found to contain four complete copper-binding regions (ten histidine residues and one cysteine residue) and four cysteine residues involved in forming disulfide bridges, fvLac-1, fvLac-2, fvLac3, and fvLac-4, encoding proteins consisting of 516, 518, 515, and 533 amino acid residues, respectively. Potential N-glycosylation sites (Asn-Xaa-Ser/Thr) were identified in the cDNA sequence of fvLac-1 (Asn-454), fvLac-2 (Asn-437 and Asn-455), fvLac-3 (Asn-111 and Asn-237), and fvLac4 (Asn-402 and Asn-457). In addition, the first 19~20 amino acid residues of these proteins were predicted to comprise signal peptides. Laccase activity assays and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction analyses clearly reveal that $CuSO_4$ affects the induction and the transcription level of these laccase genes.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.201-205
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• 2003

Laccase, lignin- and manganese peroxidase are implicated in the lignin degradation. The nucleotide sequences of four copper-binding domains in fungal laccases, and heme-binding domains of lignin- and manganese peroxidases are well conserved, and therefore these short fragments can be used for the PCR for the gene amplification. We synthesized several PCR primers according to their sequences, and run PCR to amplifiy the lignin degrading genes of Trametes versicolor isolated in Korea. PCR products were cloned with pGEM-T vector in order to determine their nucleotide sequences. A laccase fragment (1.3 kb) showed 65-97％ homologies, lignin peroxidase fragment (185 bp) showed 80-95％ homologies, and manganese peroxidase fragment (443 bp) showed 61-83％ homologies when compared with other white-rot fungal enzymes.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.199-202
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• 2008

A white rot fungus Irpex lacteus produced lignin degrading enzymes, which showed degrading activity against various recalcitrant compounds. However, laccase, one of the lignin degrading enzymes, was too low to be assayed by spectrophotometry using o-tolidine as the chromogenic substrate in this fungus under various culture conditions. A laccase expression vector was constructed using a cDNA from Phlebia tremellosa with the constitutively expressed promoter of glyceraldehydes-3-phosphate dehydrogenase gene, and introduced into I. lacteus by the restriction enzyme mediated integration transformation through the protoplast-$CaCl_2$ procedure. Two transformants showed highly increased laccase activities at the early growth phase in the minimal liquid medium, and they not only degraded bisphenol A, a notorious endocrine disrupting chemical, but also removed the estrogenic activity effectively.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.41 no.5
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• pp.384-389
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• 1998

The herbicide propanil and its metabolite, DCA were incubated with oxidative catalysts in the presence or absence of humic monomers to evaluate the incorporation of them into humic substances. Propanil and DCA underwent little or no transformation by oxidatve catalysts in the absence of humic monomers. In the presence of humic monomers, the most effective co-substrate for transformation of propanil was syringic acid by laccase and HRP, that of DCA was catechol by laccase and HRP, and protocatechuic acid by birnessite. The transformation of DCA was the highest when it was incubated with catechol at pH 8.0 during 24 hrs by laccase, and with catechol at pH 3.0 during 2 hrs by HRP, and with protocatechuic acid at pH 5.0 during 2 hrs by birnessite. The DCA transformation increased with increasing concentration of humic monomers. The transformation of DCA was increased with about 5 times when it was incubated with lactase and birnessite together than lactase alone, but that of it was not effected when it was incubated with HRP and birnessite together. When DCA was incubated with dissolved organic carbon in the presence of oxidative catalysts, the transformation of it was not increased by laccase and birnessite but increased by HRP.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.152-159
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• 2010

The influence of urushiol, as an allergen on laccase property of Fomitella fraxinea was investigated. The enzyme production was reached to the highest level after 10 days, cultivation and the activity and mycelial biomass were increased by 2.5 and 1.5 folds, respectively, by adding urushiol in the culture medium. In liquid cultures using a Cu Mn-free medium, laccase lactivity was decreased by 3.8-9.2 folds, with similar dry cell weight. Two isoenzymes, were purified using anion exchange, hydrophobic interaction and size-exclusion chromatographies. Both isoenzymes are monomeric proteins, with $M_W$ around 67 kDa(Lac1) and 66 kDa(Lac2), and isoelectric points of 3.67 and 3.81. The optimal conditions for purified isoenzymes were found to be pH 4.5-5.0 and $30-35^{\circ}C$. Activity decreased by the addition of $Fe^{2+}$, $Mg^{2+}$, $Na^+$, and strongly inhibited by EDTA and sodium azide.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.9
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• pp.1570-1578
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• 2016

Commercial application of laccase is often hampered by insufficient enzyme stocks, with very low yields obtained from natural sources. This study aimed to improve laccase production by mutation of a Coriolopsis gallica strain and to determine the biological properties of the mutant. The high-yield laccase strain C. gallica TCK was treated with N-methyl-N-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine and ultraviolet light. Among the mutants isolated, T906 was found to be a high-production strain of laccases. The mutant strain T906 was stabilized via dozens of passages, and the selected ones were further processed for optimization of metallic ion, inducers, and nutritional requirements, which resulted in the optimized liquid fermentation medium MF9. The incubation temperature and pH were optimized to be 30℃ and 4.5, respectively. The mutant strain T906 showed 3-times higher laccase activity than the original strain TCK under optimized conditions, and the maximum laccase production (303 U/ml) was accomplished after 13 days. The extracellular laccase isoenzyme 1 was purified and characterized from the two strains, respectively, and their cDNA sequence was determined. Of note, the laccase isoenzyme 1 transcription levels were overtly increased in T906 mycelia compared with values obtained for strain TCK. These findings provide a basis for C. gallica modification for the production of high laccase amounts.

• Journal of Korea Technical Association of The Pulp and Paper Industry
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• v.38 no.3 s.116
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• pp.13-22
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• 2006

The analogs of cyclic hydroxamic acids containing N-OH group have been proposed to play effective laccase-mediators in kraft pulp bleaching with laccase/mediator system. The existing mediators (NHA, 1-HBT, VA), the best laccase-mediators reported so far, and selected several analogs of cyclic hydroxamic acids were evaluated as a laccase-mediator for kraft pulp bleaching. It was found that NHA was the most effective mediator for the Trychophyton sp. LKY-7 laccase (TrL) in kraft pulp bleaching with TrL/mediator system, increasing about 10% ISO of brightness and decreasing about 2.8 of kappa number after alkaline-peroxide bleaching. Of the cyclic hydroxamic acidstested, the NHP.1(N-hydroxypyridone analog) was shown to enable TrL to effectively degrade lignin in kraft pulp bleaching, demonstrating approximately similar effect with that of NHA. However, the effect of substituent patterns of cyclic hydroxamic acid analogs in kraft pulp bleaching was not observed. The inhibitions of NHA and NHP.1 on TrL were not exhibited in TrL/mediator system. As a new mediator for TrL, NHP.1 was considered to be able to use in kraft pulp bleaching with TrL/mediator system.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.148-153
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• 1999

Laccase produced by Coriolus hirsutus was purified to electrophoretic homogeneity by acetone precipitation, Sephacryl S-2000 HR chromatography, DEAE Sepharose CL-6B chromatography, and Mono Q HR 5/5 chromatography. The purification of laccase was 46.6-fold with an overall yield of 23.7%. Laccase from this fungus was a monomeric glycoprotein with 16% carbohydrate content, and has an isoelectric point of 4.2, and molecular mass of 78 kDa, respectively. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of the enzyme showed significant homology to hoste of laccases from Coriolus versicolor, Pycnoporus cinnabarius, and an unidentified basidiomycete, PM1. The highest rate of 2,2-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonate) (ABTS) oxidation by laccase was reached at 45$^{\circ}C$, and te pH optima of the enzyme varied depending on the substrate in the range of 2.0 to 4.5. The enzyme was stable at 60$^{\circ}C$ for 5 h and lost 80% activity at 80$^{\circ}C$ in 30 min. The enzyme oxidized a variety of usual laccase substrates including lignin-related phenol, and had the highest affinity toward ABTS. Under standard assay conditions, the apparent Km value of the enzyme toward ABTS was 8.1 ${\mu}$M. The enzyme was completely inhibited by L-cysteine and sodium azide, but not by potassium cyanide, SDS, ad thiourea.