Recent advances in modern biotechnology have revolutionized the development of new molecules. Microbes are relatively easier sources than plants and animals, and their enzyme productivity can be improved using genetic modification techniques.
A team of researchers from Newcastle University have identified an novel enzyme NucB from the microbe thriving on seaweed. This enzyme is a potential weapon against biofilm producing pathogens causing numerous diseases. It has been found effective protection against dental caries and can also help in curing sinusitis. Efforts are being made to incorporate this potential bioproduct into commercial products like toothpaste etc....
Enzymes are applied in various fields, including technical use, food manufacturing, animal feed, cosmetics,fine chemicals, pharmaceuticals , and as tools for research and development. Most of the enzyme process are introduced during past 30 years. 3000 to 4000 enzymes are known, and of these, approximately 200 microbial original types are used commercially. 20 enzymes are produced on truly industrial scale.Enzyme processes are expected to increase.
The glucose biosensor is a enzyme based biosensor technology.Diabetes patients are regularly using the enzyme based biosensor. The new generations of enzymatic biosensors are being applied to clinical, environmental and other industrial activities.
A team of researchers from Newcastle University have identified an novel enzyme NucB from the microbe thriving on seaweed. This enzyme is a potential weapon against biofilm producing pathogens causing numerous diseases. It has been found effective protection against dental caries and can also help in curing sinusitis. Efforts are being made to incorporate this potential bioproduct into commercial products like toothpaste etc....
Enzymes cut and paste products such as nutrients. They speed up all vital biological processes. The enzymes in the stomach, for instance, ensure that food is cut into tiny particles that can be converted into energy in the body. Wherever one substance needs to be transformed into another, nature uses enzymes to speed up the process.
2. Enzymes are the body's own set of tools:
Whenever a substance needs to be transformed into another substance, the body uses its own engineers - enzymes. Enzymes can cut biological materials into smaller pieces and paste them together again.They thus break down or build up all life-essential substances within our body.
Enzymes are catalysts. This means that they make biochemical reactions happen faster than they would otherwise. Sometimes the essential reactions would not happen at all without the help of enzymes. Being catalysts also means that enzymes are not part of the final product. They make things happen. When the job is done, enzymes are ready to catalyze a new biochemical reaction.
Enzyme play an immense role in number of pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry.They are eco friendly and more specific .Easy cultivation short generation time,high productivity ,easy extraction procedure and ease of genetic manipulation has made microbial enzymes more preferable than the enzymes from other sources.
Iranian researchers from Tehran University of Medical Sciences succeeded in the enzyme degradation of nitrophenol pollutants by using porous silica beads.
Enzyme applications are being developed in full swing . Breakthroughs are needed to overcome their weaknesses in maintaining activities during the catalytic processes. Strategies of metagomic analysis, cell surface display technology and cell-free system might give valuable solutions in novel enzyme exploiting and enzyme engineering.
Theoretical and computational tools can provide a detailed knowledge of the mode of action of enzymes. This knowledge can be systematized to be used as a guide for the design of new biocatalysts for industrial purposes.
Xylanase is an important component of hemicellulase enzyme system. Since it plays an important role in the hydrolysis of hemicellulose into xylooligosaccharides (XOs), high thermostable xylanase has been the focus of much recent attention as powerful enzyme as well as in the field of biomass utilization.
Lipases are the most versatile biocatalyst and bring about a range of bioconversion reactions such as hydrolysis, interesterification, esterification, alcoholysis, acidolysis and aminolysis. emphasis on pharmaceuticals, pesticides, cosmetics, biosensors and detergents. Widening applications such as those in waste management and improved tanning techniques are other novel aspects of lipase utilization .
Tiny, wood-boring marine crustaceans with a funny name and a penchant for collectively attacking piers and dining on driftwood, ships, boats, and docks have made a big splash in the science news media lately. These creatures, called Gribbles, have as their recent claim to fame a novel biomass-degrading enzyme in their guts that is of keen interest to the biofuels research and engineering communities. Scientists from the United Kingdom are using the supercomputer, Kraken, to make better predictions about enzyme activity and whether the enzyme can be used directly in biomass conversion. To read more, visit the National Institute for Computational Sciences website.
Currently processes of ethanol production from desulfurated red seaweed derived polysaccharides (De-RSDP) are well established. However, the optimization of the enzymatic saccharification process has not been reported. De-RSDP from Kappaphycus alvarezii was subjected to saccharification by different enzymes, including pectinase, cellobiase, cellulase, and hemicellulase. The best saccharification enzyme was determined as pectinase.
Proteases or peptidases constitute the largest group of enzymes in bio-industry with a long array of uses. They play an invincible role in industrial biotechnology, especially in detergent, food and pharmaceutical arena.Heterogeneity of proteases is its uniqueness, which odds it out from its counterparts; of course, which makes them versatile biocatalyst too.
Tannase enzyme has the ability to produce gallic acid. Microorganisms produce more stable enzyme tannase in substantial quantities.Gallic acids used to show the cytotoxic
activity against cancer cells, without harming the normal cells.
Quorum quenching enzymes have been identified in quorum sensing and non-quorum sensing microbes, including lactonase, acylase, oxidoreductase and paraoxonase. Quorum quenching can be used to control disease in a quorum sensing system by triggering the pathogenic phenotype.
Amylases have a wide range of application in various industries such as in the food, bread making, paper industries, textiles, sweeteners, glucose and fructose syrups, fruit juices, detergents, fuel ethanol from starches, alcoholic beverages, digestive aid, and spot remover in dry cleaning. Bacterial α-amylases are also being used in clinical, medicinal, and analytical chemistry . The widely used thermostable enzymes in the starch industry are the amylases .
The special characteristics of enzymes are exploited for their commercial interest and industrial applications, which include: thermotolerance, thermophilic nature, tolerance to a varied range of pH, stability of enzyme activity over a range of temperature and pH, and other harsh reaction conditions. Such enzymes have proven their utility in bio-industries such as food, leather, textiles, animal feed, and in bio-conversions and bio-remediations.
3D chemistry speeds up and improves search for industrial enzymes. In recent years with the development of three dimensional (3D) computer modeling, which is helping scientists navigate the vast tracts of data that emerge in the process of optimizing molecules for industry.
Extremophilic salt adapted and cold active enzymes have expanded our understanding of enzyme stability and activity mechanisms, protein structure-function relationships, and enzyme engineering and evolution. The still emerging understanding of protein-solvent interactions are likely to aid in development of new catalysts for use in novel synthetic applications, including enzymes operating in low water activity and organic solvents, and in the development of efficient catalytic systems active in organic solvents for applications in bioenergy and biotechnology.
Psychrophiles thriving permanently at near-zero temperatures synthesize cold-active enzymes to sustain their cell cycle.These enzymes are already used in many biotechnological applications requiring high activity at mild temperatures or fast heat-inactivation rate.