Molecular breeding of a novel <Emphasis Type="Italic">Coprinopsis cinerea</Emphasis> strain possessing a heterologous laccase gene, <Emphasis Type="Italic">lccK</Emphasis>, driven by a constitutive promoter

Genomic DNA encoding the Pleurotus ostreatus LccK laccase was fused with the Coprinopsis cinerea β-tubulin promoter and terminator, and introduced into a C. cinerea strain. Linkage analysis, native PAGE separations, substrate specificity investigations and expression profiling indicated that C. cinerea transformants secrete P. ostreatus LccK, suggesting that the introns of the lccK gene are correctly spliced and the signal peptide for secretion is functional in C. cinerea. Transformants constitutively expressing laccase may be useful for the degradation of aromatic compounds.