Panel 8: laccases

Laccases are blue copper oxidases that can serve as the central (if not sole) fungal polyphenol oxidase. We found laccase activity in all species of Panel 5. We performed PCR/cloning/sequencing on extracted DNA from 24 cordgrass-ascomycete strains, and found 15 distinct sequences from between two copper-binding sites of laccase (900bp). We also applied the laccase PCR/cloning to naturally decaying leaves (Panel 2); the laccase sequences found were almost all among those that we had identified from Panel-5 species. The pie charts show % of clones attributable to particular laccase amplicons, with the type of laccase given in parens.

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