To obtain enzymatic preparations with higher laccase activity levels from Funalia floccosa LPSC 232, available for use in several applications, co-cultures with six filamentous microfungi were tested. A laccase non-producing soil fungus, identified as Penicillium commune GHAIE86, showed an outstanding ability to increase laccase activity (3-fold as compared to that for monoculture) when inoculated in 6-day-old F. floccosa cultures. Maximum laccase production with the F. floccosa and P. commune co-culture reached 60 U/mL, or twice that induced by chemical treatments alone. Our study demonstrated that co-culture with soil fungi might be a promising method for improving laccase production in F. floccosa. Although the enhancement of laccase activity was a function of P. commune inoculation time, two laccase isoenzymes produced by F. floccosa remained unchanged when strains were co-cultured. These data are compatible with the potential of F. floccosa in agricultural applications in soil, whose enzyme machinery could be activated by soil fungi such as P. commune.

Department of Food Chemistry and Technology ETSIAAB Technical University of Madrid Madrid Spain

Department of Soil Microbiology and Symbiotic Systems Estación Experimental del Zaidín Spanish National Research Council Institute of Biotechnology University of Granada Granada Spain

Department of Soil Microbiology and Symbiotic Systems Estación Experimental del Zaidín Spanish National Research Council Profesor Albareda 1 18008 Granada Spain

Department of Soil Microbiology and Symbiotic Systems Estación Experimental del Zaidín Spanish National Research Council Profesor Albareda 1 18008 Granada Spain Institute of Ecology A C Carretera antigua Xalapa Coatepec 351 El Haya 91070 Xalapa Veracruz Mexico

Department of Soil Microbiology and Symbiotic Systems Estación Experimental del Zaidín Spanish National Research Council Profesor Albareda 1 18008 Granada Spain Institute of Microbiology University of Innsbruck Technikerstrasse 25 A 6020 Innsbruck Austria

Institute of Plant Physiology Diag 113 and 61 CC 327 1900 La Plata Argentina

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