Syringaldazine (3,5-Dimethoxy-4-hydroxybenzaldehyde azine) and DEAE (diethyl aminoethyl) Cellulose were from Sigma Chemical Company, St. Louis USA. DMP (2,6-dimethoxy phenol), and ABTS 2,2’-Azino-bis-(3-ethylebenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) was from Fluka, Chemi new Ulm, Switzerland. The chemicals used in the gel electrophoresis of protein samples were from Geni Pvt. Ltd. Banglore. All other chemicals used in these investigations were either from Himedia laboratory Ltd, Mumbai or from E. Merck (India) Ltd. Werli Road Mumbai and were used without further purifications.
The fungal strain was procured from the Microbial Type Culture Collection Center and Gene Bank, Institute of Microbial Technology, Chandigarh and was maintained on agar slant as reported in MTCC Catalogue of strains-2000 [19]. The growth medium for the fungal strain G. stratum MTCC-1117 consisted of malt extract 20.0 g and agar 20.0 g in 1.0 L Milli-Q water and pH of the medium was 6.5.
The liquid culture medium reported by Coll et al [28] was used for screening the fungal strain for the production of extracellular laccase in the liquid culture medium. This medium consisted of yeast extract 0.5 g, asparagine 1.0 g, glucose 10.0 g, MgSO4.7H2O and FeSO4.7H2O 0.01 g in 1.0 L of Milli-Q water. The liquid culture medium containing natural lignin substrate like wheat straw, saw dust, coir dust, corn cob, and bagasse particle were separately prepared by adding 0.5 g of one of the natural lignin substrates to 25 ml of the above mentioned growth medium in 100 ml culture flasks which were sterilized. The sterilized growth medium was inoculated with small piece of mycelium (0.5 cm ´ 0.5 cm) under aseptic condition and the fungal culture was grown under stationary culture condition at 30 0C in a BOD incubator. In order to monitor the production of laccase in the liquid culture medium 0.5 mL aliquots of the growth medium were withdrawn at a regular intervals of 24 hrs and filtered through sterilized Millipore filter 0.22 mm. The filtered extract was analyzed for the activity of the laccase using DMP as the substrate by the method [28] given below in the assay section. Secretion of the laccase in the liquid culture medium by G. stratum MTCC-1117 was determined by plotting the enzyme unit per milliliter of the growth medium against the number of days after inoculation of the fungal mycelia. Each point on the curve is an average of the three measurements. The growth medium for the control experiment has the same composition except that no natural lignolytic substrate has been added. In order to optimize the condition for maximum production of the laccase by G. stratum MTCC-1117 in the liquid culture medium, the amount of best inducer wheat straw particle was varied from 100-1000 mg in 25 mL of the growth medium. The amount of the inducer in the growth medium which gives the maximum height of the enzyme activity peak was taken as the optimal amount of the inducer.
Enzyme assay
The assay solution 1.0 mL for ABTS as the substrate [28] contained 0.5 mM ABTS in 0.1 M sodium acetate buffer pH 5.0 at 25 ºC for DMP as the substrate [29]1.0 mL solution contained 1.0 mM DMP in 50 mM sodium malonate buffer pH 4.5 at 37 ºC and for Syringaldazine (3,5-dimethoxy-4-hydroxybenaldehyde azine) as the substrate [30] contained 0.1 mM syringaldazine in 50 mM sodium phosphate buffer pH 6.0 at 50 ºC. In case of ABTS, the reaction was monitored by measuring the absorbance change at λ=420 nm and using the molar extinction coefficient [28] value of 36.0 mM−1 cm−1. In case of DMP, the reaction was monitored by measuring the absorbance change at λ=468 nm and using the molar extinction coefficient [29] value of 49.6 mM−1cm−1. In case of syringaldazine, the reaction was monitored by measuring the absorbance change at λ=530 nm and using molar extinction coefficient [30] value 64.0 mM−1cm−1. The UV/Vis spectrophotometer Hitachi (Japan) model U-2000 fitted with electronic temperature control unit was used for absorbance measurement. The least count of absorbance measurement was 0.001 absorbance unit. One enzyme unit produced 1 μmol of the product per min under the specified assay conditions.
Purification of laccase enzyme
For the purification of the laccase, G. stratum MTCC-1117 was grown in ten 100 mL culture flasks each containing 25 mL sterilized growth medium containing optimal amount 800 mg of the inducer wheat straw particles under stationary culture condition in a BOD incubator at 30 °C. The maximum activity of the laccase appeared on seventh day of the inoculation of the fungal mycelia. On the seventh day, all the cultures in the ten flasks were pooled, mycelia were removed by filtration through four layers of cheese cloth. The culture filtrate was concentrated by using Amicon concentration cell model-8200 with PM-10 ultrafiltration membrane, molecular weight cut-off value 10 kDa. The concentrated enzyme was dialysed against 10 mM Na2HPO4/NaH2PO4 buffer (pH 6.5) in a volume ratio 1:1000 with three changes at the intervals of 8 h. 10-millilitre enzyme sample containing 1.87 mg/mL protein was loaded on to the DEAE column (size 1.0×38.0 cm) which was pre-equilibrated with 10 mM Na2HPO4/NaH2PO4 buffer (pH 6.5), and the flow rate was 18 mL/h. The column was washed with 60 mL of the same buffer. The enzyme was eluted by applying linear gradient of 0.0 to1.0 M NaCl in the same buffer (50 mL buffer + 50 mL buffer with 1.0 M NaCl). The fractions of 5.0 mL size were collected and analyzed for the laccase activity [28]. The protein estimation was done by the lowery method [31]. All laccase-active fractions were combined and concentrated by putting it in a dialysis bag and covering the dialysis bag with powdered sucrose at 4 °C.
SDS-PAGE Analysis
The purity of the enzyme preparation was checked by using sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) [32]. The molecular weight marker were phosphorylase (97.4 kDa), bovine serum albumin (66.0 kDa), ovalbumin (43.0 kDa), carbonic anhydrase (29.0 kDa), soyabean trypsin inhibitor (20.1 kDa) and lysozyme (14.3 kDa), and were procured from Bangalore Genei Pvt. Ltd. (Bangalore, India). Gel was run at a constant current 20 mA [33]. The molecular weight was determined by the Weber and Osborn method [34].
UV/Vis Spectrum of the Purified Enzyme
The UV/Vis spectrum of the purified laccase 0.56 mg/mL was recorded in 50 mM sodium phosphate buffer pH 6.5 at 30 °C, using UV/Vis spectrophotometer Hitachi (Japan) model U-2000 as mentioned in the assay section.
Steady-State Enzyme Kinetics
The steady-state enzyme kinetics of the purified laccase was studied using DMP as the substrate following the method as mentioned in the assay section [29]. Km and kcat values for the enzyme were determined from the linear regression of double reciprocal plot. The pH and temperature optima of the enzyme were determined by measuring the steady-state velocities of the enzyme catalyzed reaction in the solutions of varying pH/temperature keeping the other parameters fixed and drawing graphs of steady-state velocities versus the variable parameter.
Native-PAGE and Zymogram Analysis
The native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of purified enzyme was done using the reported method [35]. The composition of resolving and stacking gel was similar to that used in SDS-PAGE, except SDS was absent. The molecular weight marker was the bovine serum albumin 66 kDa. Two sets of native gel were done. One set was strained with Coomassie Brilliant Blue R-250 and the other set was used for zymogram[36] preparation. For the preparation of zymogram, 100-mM DMP solution was made in 10 mM sodium tartrate buffer pH 5.0. The native gel was dipped in zymogram solution for 5 min, and a brown band appeared. The zymogram was removed from the DMP solution and was washed thrice with 10 mM sodium tartrate buffer pH 5.0 at the interval of 5 min.
Oxidation of Veratryl Alcohol to Veratraldehyde
This study was made by recording the UV/Vis spectra at zero time and after 30 min of 1.0 mL of the solution containing 0.10 mM veratryl alcohol, and 10.6 μg of the laccase in 100 mM sodium malonate buffer pH 4.5 at 30 °C. The time course of the conversion of veratryl alcohol to verataldehyde was monitored by observing absorbance increase at 310 nm due to verataldehyde [36] formation in the solution of the above composition.
Selective oxidation of the aromatic methyl group to aldehyde in the absence of mediators
The bioconversion of methylbenzene to benzaldehyde [26-27] was done in 2 mL of 10 mM sodium phosphate buffer pH 6.5 containing 100 μL methylbenzene and 11.6 μg of purified laccase in the absence of any mediator kept in a 25-mL conical flask which was stirred vigorously for 3 min. The reaction solution was extracted thrice with 2 mL of n-hexane 20-microlitres of the n-hexane extracted was injected in Waters HPLC Model 600E using spherisorb C18 5 UV, 4.5×250 mm column. The eluant phase was methanol/ water in the ratio 1:1 (v/v) at the flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The detection was made using Waters UV detector model 2487 at λ=254 nm.