Biological pretreatment of rice husks with the white-rot fungus pleurotus ostreatus: the role of laccase activity

The main objective of this study was to determine the influence of the composition of the culture medium and lignocellulosic compounds on the secretion of laccase enzymes by P. ostreatus in submerged cultures. These studies were done using a statistical and systematic approach that allowed the control of the culture media composition. The optimal nutritional conditions were found that simultaneously increased fungal growth and laccase activity in the absence and presence of copper sulfate, a recognized inducer of laccase. Under these conditions, the biochemical aspects of transcripts in P. ostreatus related to laccase secretion were evaluated , which revealed the participation of membrane transporters with high affinity for copper (CTRs) as intermediate candidates for the regulation of three laccase genes, lacc2, lacc6, and lacc10. Moreover, the evaluation of the results of the culture media composition suggests that the regulation of these transporters is closely linked to sufficient nutritional conditions in carbon and nitrogen, with central participation of the metabolism of organic nitrogen in this process. With these findings, it was possible to obtain more profound knowledge of the pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass by P. ostreatus in a submerged culture that was oriented to determine the role of laccase activity in the biological pretreatment of rice husks.