42-51In this study we describe the effects of Pleurotus ostreatus transformants that have been silenced for laccase genes. Using the RNAi strategy, transformants with different levels of phenotypic alteration were obtained with respect to their oxidation capacity of 2,6-dimethoxyphenol (DMP). The analysis of laccase activity on DMP allowed us to select transformants with severe, medium and light phenotypic alteration in comparison to the PoB strain. The measurements of the average growth rate of the transformants with severe phenotypic alteration suggested that laccase expression could play a role in the vegetative growth of P. ostreatus. It was observed that both in solid and liquid cultures, PoB and the transformants express mRNA for lacc10, although the transformants with medium and severe phenotypic alteration present a decrease in intensity, especially in solid culture. This suggests that the product of this gene is responsible for the development of the mycelium and probably participates in the production of biomass in solid culture and also could be related to the decrease in the intensity of the constant isoenzyme observed in both culture systems
