Structure-Based Rational Design to Enhance the Solubility and Thermostability of a Bacterial Laccase Lac15

Bacterial laccases are ideal alternatives of fungal laccases for specific industrial applications due to specific characteristics such as alkalescence dependence and high chloride tolerance. However, some bacterial laccases presented as inclusion bodies when expressing in Escherichia coli and showed thermal instability. In this study, rational design was employed to enhance the solubility and the thermostablity of the bacterial laccase Lac15-His(6) based on the crystal structure obtained previously. After deletion of His-tag and residues(323–332), the obtained Lac15D was completely expressed in soluble form even at a higher temperature of 28°C, compared to only 50% of Lac15-His(6) expressed solubly at 16°C. It showed a two-time higher activity at temperatures lower than 35°C and a half-life increasing from 72 min to 150 min at 45°C. When used in chromogenic reactions, Lac15D showed constant activity toward dye precursors and their combinations under alkaline conditions, demonstrating its application potential in hair coloring biotechnology.