Laccase: Recent Progresses and its Nano-Biotechnological Importance

Laccase is an enzyme belonging to oxidase group, known as blue multi-copper oxidase that is produced by microorganisms especially fungi and plants. Laccase uses molecular oxygen as electron acceptor for biological oxidation while hydrogen peroxide is the electron acceptor in peroxidases. Application of this enzyme includes a wide range of chemical processes and industries such as bleaching in the textile industry, pulp bleaching, effluent detoxification, bioremediation, food industries, production of organic materials from phenolic and amine substrates, fuel cells and nanobiotechnology. Although filamentous fungi produce considerable amount of laccase, but industrial scale production of this enzyme is still faced with various problems such as uncontrolled fungal growth, the formation of polysaccharides around mycelia and the secretion of certain compounds such as inactivating proteases. The recent researches on laccase focused on increasing efficiency and decreasing the final production cost with finding suitable microorganisms and improving the production process and purification. This article reviews an introduction on laccase, characteristics, manufacturing processes, and the effect of various factors on its stability and activity and other applications in various industries.