Microbial Protease Production and Applications
Summary
Microbial proteases are a diverse class of hydrolytic enzymes that catalyse the cleavage of peptide bonds in proteins, encompassing serine, cysteine, aspartic and metalloprotease families. These biocatalysts are produced predominantly by bacterial and fungal hosts such as Bacillus and Aspergillus species, using submerged and solid-state fermentation platforms. Advances in strain engineering, medium optimisation and bioreactor design have enhanced yields, stability and specificity. Industrially, microbial proteases underpin processes in detergents, leather dehairing, food processing, waste valorisation and pharmaceuticals. Recent efforts focus on sustainable and green chemistry approaches, leveraging enzyme robustness in extreme pH, temperature or solvent conditions to replace harsh chemicals. Emerging applications include bioremediation of proteinaceous waste, biomass conversion and precision proteolysis in biotherapeutics. The global significance lies in reduced environmental impact, energy savings and creation of value-added products from by-products such as feathers and collagenous residues.
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Microbial Protease Production and Applications publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in microbial protease production and applications across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Submerged fermentation: Liquid-phase cultivation of microorganisms under controlled aeration and agitation for enzyme production.
Solid-state fermentation: Growth of microbes on moist solid substrates without free water, often yielding high titres of fungal proteases.
Keratinase: A specialised protease capable of degrading keratinous materials such as feathers, hair or nails.
Collagenase: An enzyme that cleaves the triple-helical regions of collagen, facilitating breakdown of connective tissue proteins.
References
- A conserved strategy to attack collagen: The activator domain in bacterial collagenases unwinds triple-helical collagen. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (2024).
- Microbial Proteases Applications. Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology (2019).
- Effective biodegradation of chicken feather waste by co-cultivation of keratinase producing strains. Microbial Cell Factories (2019).
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