Laccase production by the aquatic ascomycete Phoma sp. UHH 5-1-03 and the white rot basidiomycete pleurotus ostreatus dsm 1833 during submerged cultivation on banana peels and enzyme applicability for the removal of endocrine-disrupting chemicals

This work aimed to study the production of laccase from Pleurotus ostreatus DSM 1833 and Phoma sp. UHH 5-1-03 using banana peels as alternative carbon source, the subsequent partial purification and characterization of the enzyme, as well the applicability to degrade endocrine disruptors. The laccase stability with pH and temperature, the optimum pH, the Km and Vmax parameters, and the molar mass were determined. Tests were conducted for assessing the ability of degradation of the endocrine disruptors t-nonylphenol, bisphenol A, and 17a-ethinylestradiol. Laccase production of 752 and 1,117 UL-1 was obtained for Phoma sp. and P. ostreatus, respectively. Phoma sp. laccase showed higher stability with temperature and pH. The laccase from both species showed higher affinity by syringaldazine. The culture broth with banana peels induced the production of two isoforms of P. ostreatus (58.7 and 21 kDa) and one of Phoma sp. laccase (72 kDa). In the first day of incubation, the concentrations of bisphenol A and 17a-ethinylestradiol were reduced to values close to zero and after 3 days the concentration of t-nonylphenol was reduced in 90% by the P. ostreatus laccase, but there was no reduction in its concentration by the Phoma sp. laccase. © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012.