Sustainable Denim Bleaching by a Novel Thermostable Bacterial Laccase

Laccases have emerged as environment-friendly multifaceted biocatalysts for diverse biotechnological applications. Here, we isolated a high molecular weight (88 kDa) extremophilic laccase (LacT) from Brevibacillus agri, with the aim to exploit its extreme characters in denim bleaching. LacT has been characterized as a thermostable, acidophilic enzyme with high salt, organic solvent, and divalent metal tolerance properties. Denim bleaching efficiency of LacT was optimum at pH 4.0 and appeared to be surpassing over other reported laccases. LacT also exhibited remarkable efficacy in the decolorization of water-soluble health hazardous azo-dyes, and thus transpired to be a promising bio-bleaching and dye decolorizing agent.