Expression of a thermotolerant laccase from Pycnoporus sanguineus in Trichoderma reesei and its application in the degradation of bisphenol A.

The laccase gene from Pycnoporus sanguineus was cloned and inserted between the strong Pcbh1 promoter and the Tcbh1 terminator from Trichoderma reesei to form the recombinant plasmid pCH-lac. Using Agrobacterium-mediated technique, the pCH-lac was integrated into the chromosomes of T. reesei. Twenty positive transformants were obtained by employing hygromycin B as a selective agent. PCR was used to confirm that the laccase gene was integrated into the chromosomal DNA of T. reesei. Laccase production by recombinant transformants was performed in shaking flasks, and the activity of laccase reached 8.8 IU/mL after 96-h fermentation under a batch process, and 17.7 IU/mL after 144-h fermentation using a fed-batch process. SDS-PAGE analysis of the fermentation broth showed that the molecular mass of the protein was about 68 kDa, almost the same as that of the laccase produced by P. sanguineus, which indicated that laccase was successfully expressed in T. reesei and secreted out of the cells. The laccase produced by the recombinant T. reesei showed good thermal stability, and could degrade the toxic phenolic material bisphenol A efficiently, after 1-h reaction with 0.06 IU/mL laccase and 0.5 mmol/L ABTS as the mediator at 60 °C and pH 4.5, the degradation rate reached 95%, which demonstrated that it had great potential value in treating the household garbage and wastewater containing the bisphenol A.