Laccases and their applications: a patent review.

Laccases are an interesting group of multi copper enzymes, which have received much attention of researchers in last decades due to their ability to oxidize both phenolic and non-phenolic lignin related compounds as well as highly recalcitrant environmental pollutants. This makes these biocatalysts very useful for their application in several biotechnological processes. Such applications include the detoxification of industrial effluents, mostly from the paper and pulp, textile and petrochemical industries, polymer synthesis, bioremediation of contaminated soils, wine and beverage stabilization. Laccases are also used as catalysts for the manufacture of anti-cancer drugs and even as ingredients in cosmetics. Recently, the utility of laccases has also been applied to nanobiotechnology. This paper reviews recent and important patents related to the properties, heterologous production, molecular cloning, and applications of laccases within different industrial fields as well as their potential extension to the nanobiotechnology area.

Environmental biocatalysis: from remediation with enzymes to novel green processes.

Modern biocatalysis is developing new and precise tools to improve a wide range of production processes, which reduce energy and raw material consumption and generate less waste and toxic side-products. Biocatalysis is also achieving new advances in environmental fields, from enzymatic bioremediation to the synthesis of renewable and clean energies and biochemical cleaning of 'dirty' fossil fuels. Despite the obvious benefits of biocatalysis, the major hurdles hindering the exploitation of the repertoire of enzymatic processes are, in many cases, the high production costs and the low yields obtained. This article will discuss these issues, pinpointing specific new advances in recombinant DNA techniques amenable to future biocatalyst development, in addition to drawing the attention of the biotechnology community to the active pursuit and development of environmental biocatalysis, from remediation with enzymes to novel green processes.

Beet sugar syrup and molasses as low-cost feedstock for the enzymatic production of fructo-oligosaccharides.

Sugar syrup and molasses from beet processing containing 620 and 570 mg/mL sucrose, respectively, were assayed as low-cost and available substrates for the enzymatic synthesis of fructo-oligosaccharides (FOSs). A commercial pectinase (Pectinex Ultra SP-L, from Aspergillus aculeatus) characterized by the presence of a transfructosylating activity was used as a biocatalyst. The FOS production increased when lowering the initial pH value of syrup (7.5) and molasses (8.9) to 5.5. Sugar syrup and molasses were diluted in order to reduce substrate viscosity; interestingly, the percentage of FOS with regards to total sugars remained almost constant, which indicated a high transferase-to-hydrolase ratio for this enzyme. Kinetics of FOS production was analyzed. Using approximately 10 U transfructosylating activity per g sucrose, the FOS concentration reached a maximum of 388 mg/mL after 30 h using syrup and 235 mg/mL in 65 h with molasses. These values corresponded to approximately 56 and 49% (w/w), respectively, of the total amount of carbohydrates in the mixture. The enzyme was also covalently immobilized on an epoxy-activated polymethacrylate-based polymer (Sepabeads EC-EP5). We found that immobilized Pectinex Ultra SP-L can be efficiently applied to the synthesis of FOS using syrup and molasses as substrates.