Laccase

Recently, scientists from S N Bose National Center for Basic Sciences (SNBNCBS), Kolkata, have discovered that an enzyme called laccase has the potential to degrade a variety of hazardous organic dye molecules discharged into water bodies by the textile industry after dying of clothes.

Key Points

• Laccase, generated by a group of fungi, contains 4 copper atoms in two different oxidation states. It degrades substrates through redox reactions, producing only water and simplest non-virulent or less virulent oxides of carbon, nitrogen and sulphur.
• Through testing the efficacy of laccase in degrading standard dye molecules like Methyl Green, Crystal Violet, Thioflavin T, ....