An unusual halotolerant-alkaline laccase from Streptomyces psammoticus has been purified to homogeneity through anion exchange and gel filtration chromatography steps with an overall purification fold of 12.1. The final recovery of the enzyme was 22.1%. The molecular mass of the purified laccase was about 43 kDa. The enzyme was active in the alkaline pH range with pH optima at 8.5 and 97% activity retention at pH 9.0. The optimum temperature was 45 degrees C. The enzyme was stable in the pH range 6.5-9.5 and up to 50 degrees C for 90 min. The enzyme was tolerant to NaCl concentrations up to 1.2 M. It was inhibited by all the putative laccase inhibitors while the enzyme was activated by metal ions like Fe, Zn, Cu, Na and Mg. Fe enhanced the enzyme activity by twofold (204%). The enzyme showed lowest K-m value with pyrogallol (0.25 mM) followed by ABTS (0.39 mM). The purified enzyme was a typical blue laccase with an absorption peak at 600 nm. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.