Laccase enzyme

March 22, 2023

An enzyme called laccase generated by a group of fungi has been found capable of degrading a variety of hazardous organic dye molecules that are regularly drained into water bodies after dying clothes in the textile industry.
This observed characteristic which the scientists termed substrate promiscuity can have deep implication in designing enzyme-coated cassettes for treating heavily dye-polluted water through a natural solution to make the environment greener.
It belongs enzyme family of multicopper oxidases (MCOs).
- They are classified as benzenediol oxygen reductases and are also known as urushiol oxidases and p-diphenol oxidases.
Laccase was known for its capacity to degrade various organic molecules.
They are capable of oxidizing a large number of phenolic and non-phenolic molecules due to their low substrate specificity, using oxygen as electron acceptor and generating water as a by-product.
Hence the scientists saw a scope in using it to develop a technology to treat/degrade the dye effluents emanated from textile industries.