Environmental Chemistry Letters

, Volume 1, Issue 2, pp 145–148 | Cite as

Fungal laccases: from structure-activity studies to environmental applications

  • Christian Mougin
  • Claude Jolivalt
  • Pierre Briozzo
  • Catherine Madzak
Original Paper

Abstract

Laccases are multicopper oxidases mainly secreted by filamentous fungi. Producing radical forms from organic substrates, they are involved in numerous reactions leading to the degradation and polymerization of xenobiotics. Our studies have led to a better knowledge of the structural, catalytic and genetic properties of laccases and allowed to develop a strategy for their evolution through genetic engineering. Here, we show that fungal laccases, wild or engineered, may be potent tools to develop bioremediation processes of soils polluted by organic compounds, and assays to assess the ecotoxicological impact of these pollutants on soil fungi.

Keywords

Fungal laccases Xenobiotics Biotransformation Bioremediation Ecotoxicological risk assessment Genomics Proteomics 

Notes

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Annick Lacombe (INRA, Jouy en Josas) for attentive reading of the manuscript.

References

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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag 2003

Authors and Affiliations

  • Christian Mougin
    • 1
  • Claude Jolivalt
    • 2
  • Pierre Briozzo
    • 3
  • Catherine Madzak
    • 4
  1. 1.Unité de Phytopharmacie et Médiateurs ChimiquesINRA Versailles CedexFrance
  2. 2.Laboratoire de Synthèse Sélective et Produits NaturelsUMR CNRS 7573, ENSCPParis Cedex 05France
  3. 3.Laboratoire de Chimie BiologiqueUMR 206 INRA-INAPGThiverval-GrignonFrance
  4. 4.Laboratoire de Génétique Moléculaire et CellulaireINRA-INAPGThiverval-GrignonFrance

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