Laccase is a blue multicopper oxidase (MCO) which catalyzes the oxidation of a variety aromatic - notably phenolic and inorganic substances coupled to the reduction of molecular oxygen to water. Laccase has been implicated in a wide spectrum of biological activities and, in particular, plays a key role in morphogenesis, development and lignin metabolism. Plants usually express multiple laccase genes, but their precise physiological/biochemical roles remain largely unclear. MCOs are capable of oxidizing a vast range of substrates, varying from aromatic compounds to inorganic compounds such as metals. Although the members of this family have diverse functions, majority of them have three cupredoxin domain repeats. The copper ions are bound in several sites: Type 1, Type 2, and/or Type 3. The ensemble of types 2 and 3 copper is called a trinuclear cluster. MCOs oxidize their substrate by accepting electrons at a mononuclear copper center and transferring them to the active site trinuclear copper center. The cupredoxin domain 1 of 3-domain MCOs contains part the trinuclear copper binding site, which is located at the interface of domains 1 and 3.
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