Evidence for functional laccases in the acidophilic ascomycete Hortaea acidophila and isolation of laccase-specific gene fragments.

Hortaea acidophila is a pigmented, yeast-like ascomycete that is able to grow at a pH as low as 0.6. This study presents evidence that H. acidophila possesses at least two functional laccases that seem to be involved in melanin synthesis. This evidence is supported by PCR amplification of laccase-specific gene fragments by using primers derived from conserved copper-binding-regions and by Southern Blot analysis. Due to their low pH optimum the laccases may be of special interest for biotechnological use.