Lignin is the second most abundant biopolymer on earth and accrues in large amounts in the pulp- and paper industry. While currently lignins are mainly used for low-value applications such as energy production, recently the potential of laccases for upgrading lignins has been demonstrated. In this study, two laccases of fungal and bacterial origin were characterized regarding their potential to polymerize lignosulfonate. The laccases MaL1 from Melanocarpus albomyces, and SrLA from Streptomyces rochei were heterologously expressed and showed typical characteristics of laccases, like acidic pH optima for ABTS at pH 4 and 5, respectively, and temperature optima at 50 °C and 80 °C. Polymerization of lignosulfonate with MaL1 led to an almost two-fold increase of the molecular weight, according to size exclusion (SEC) multiangle laser light scattering (MALLS) analysis. In contrast, SrLA showed considerably less activity on lignosulfonates, as measured based on oxygen consumption and SEC-MALLS.

木质素是地球上第二丰富的生物聚合物，在纸浆和造纸工业中大量积累。虽然目前木质素主要用于能源生产等低价值应用，但最近已经证明了漆酶升级木质素的潜力。在这项研究中，真菌和细菌来源的两种漆酶的特征在于它们聚合木质素磺酸盐的潜力。漆酶马L1从Melanocarpus albomyces，和锶从LA链霉菌rochei异源表达，并在50℃和80℃下显示出漆酶的典型特性，像酸性最适pH为ABTS在分别pH为4和5，，和最适温度。木质素磺酸盐与Ma的聚合根据尺寸排阻 (SEC) 多角度激光散射 (MALLS) 分析，L1 导致分子量几乎增加了两倍。相比之下，根据耗氧量和 SEC-MALLS 测量，Sr LA 对木质素磺酸盐的活性要低得多。