Novel Thermophilic Bacterial Laccase for the Degradation of Aromatic Organic Pollutants

Nabangshu Sharma; Ivanhoe K H Leung

doi:10.3389/fchem.2021.711345

Novel Thermophilic Bacterial Laccase for the Degradation of Aromatic Organic Pollutants

Front Chem. 2021 Oct 20:9:711345. doi: 10.3389/fchem.2021.711345. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Nabangshu Sharma¹, Ivanhoe K H Leung^{1

2

3

4}

Affiliations

¹ School of Chemical Sciences, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
² Centre for Green Chemical Science, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
³ School of Chemistry, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
⁴ Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia.

Abstract

We identified a putative laccase from the thermophilic bacterium Geobacillus yumthangensis. The putative laccase was produced recombinantly and its ability to catalyse the degradation of aromatic organic pollutants was investigated. The putative laccase exhibits broad pH and temperature stability, and, notably, it could catalyse the degradation of organic dyes as well as toxic pollutants including bisphenol A, guaiacol and phenol with a redox mediator. Our work further demonstrates the potential of using oxidative enzymes to break down toxic chemicals that possess major threats to human health and the environment.

Keywords: biocatalysts; bioremediation; enzyme technology; laccase; organic pollutants.