Extraction and Purification of Laccases from Rice Stems

Laccases are found in cell walls of plants in very low amounts. This protocol provides an efficient method to purify laccases from rice stems. The method involves three steps: 1) Isolation of total protein from rice stems using buffers with high salt concentration to extract protein from cell walls; 2) Purification of laccases using concanavalin-A beads; and, 3) In-gel staining of laccases with 4-hydroxyindole. Concanavalin-A specifically binds to internal or non-reducing terminal alpha-D-mannosyl and alpha-D-glucosyl groups found in glycoproteins and glycolipids. Laccases being glycoproteins binds to concanavalin-A during purification process and eluted with mannose.