Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2020) 9(5): 2960-2963 2960 Short Communications https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2020.905.351 Evaluation of Antibacterial Activity of Laccase from Bacillus subtilis R. Ambily * , M. Kour, M. Shynu, B. Bhatia and T. V. Aravindakshan School of Applied Animal Production and Biotechnology, College of Veterinary and Animal Science, Mannuthy, Thrissur, Kerala-680 651, India *Corresponding author ABSTRACT Introduction Laccase is an enzyme that belongs to the group oxidases and a member of multi blue copper protein family. They were proved to have various biotechnological applications due to their wide substrate specificity and large reaction capabilities. They are ubiquitous and are distributed in plants and fungi (Benfield et al., 1964) as well as in bacteria (Muthukumaraswamy et al., 2015). Bacterial laccases are highly thermostable and have high production rate. Nevertheless, their role as antibacterial agents had not been studied extensively. Hence, a study was designed to extract laccase enzyme from the bacteria, Bacillus subtilis which had been demonstrated as an efficient laccase producer (Muthukumaraswamy et al., 2015) and to evaluate their antibacterial activity. International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 9 Number 5 (2020) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com The study was undertaken to evaluate the antibacterial activity of laccase from Bacillus subtilis. Laccase was extracted using rice bran as substrate and analysed using guaiacol. Anti-bacterial activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus was assessed by broth microdilution employing direct colony suspension method. Laccase was found to inhibit the growth of E. coli. However, no antibacterial activity could be observed against Staphylococcus aureus. Hence, laccase cannot be considered as an effective broad spectrum antibacterial agent. Since the antibacterial potential is proved, its activity in combination with other antimicrobial agents may be evaluated. Keywords Laccase, Bacillus subtilis, Antibacterial Accepted: 26 April 2020 Available Online: 10 May 2020 Article Info