Studies of laccases from marine-derived fungi are limited. In the present work, putative laccase genes from three marine-derived basidiomycetes and their laccase activities were evaluated. High amounts of laccase were produced by the fungal strains Marasmiellus sp. CBMAI 1062 (971.2UL⁻¹) and Peniophora sp. CBMAI 1063 (709.03UL⁻¹) when grown for 21d at 28°C in MA2ASW medium prepared with artificial seawater. Marine-derived basidiomycetes produced multiple distinct laccase sequences of about 200bp with 73-90% similarity to terrestrial basidiomycete laccases. Marasmiellus sp. CBMAI 1062 and Tinctoporellus sp. CBMAI 1061 showed the greatest laccase gene diversity with three and four distinct putative laccase sequences, respectively. This is the first report of laccase genes from marine-derived fungi, and our results revealed new putative laccases produced by three basidiomycetes.
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