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Abstract:
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The present study has identified an actinomycete culture (S. psammoticus) which
was capable of producing all the three major ligninolytic enzymes. The study
revealed that least explored mangrove regions are potential sources for the isolation
of actinomycetes with novel characteristics. The laccase production by the strain in
SmF and SSF was found to be much higher than the reported values. The growth of
the organism was favoured by alkaline pH and salinity of the medium. The enzyme
also exhibited novel characteristics such as activity and stability at alkaline pH and
salt tolerance. These two characters are quite significant from the industrial point of
view making the enzyme an ideal candidate for industrial applications. Many of the
application studies to date are focused on enzymes from fungal sources. However,
the fungal laccases, which are mostly acidic in nature, could not be used
universally for all application purposes especially, for the treatment of
effluents from different industries, largely due to the alkaline nature of the
effluents. Under such situations the enzymes from organisms like S.
psammoticus with wide pH range could play a better role than the fungal
counterparts. In the present study, the ability of the isolated strain and
laccase in the degradation of dyes and phenolic compounds was successfully
proved. The reusability of the immobilized enzyme system made the entire
treatment process inexpensive. Thus it can be concluded from the present
study that the laccase from this organism could be hopefully employed for
the eco-friendly treatment of dye or phenol containing industrial effluents
from various sources. |