Molecular modification and biotechnological applications of microbial aspartic proteases

Abstract

The growing preference for incorporating microbial aspartic proteases in industries is due to their high catalytic function and high degree of substrate selectivity. These properties, however, are attributable to molecular alterations in their structure and a variety of other characteristics. Molecular tools, functional genomics, and genome editing technologies coupled with other biotechnological approaches have aided in improving the potential of industrially important microbial proteases by addressing some of their major limitations, such as: low catalytic efficiency, low conversion rates, low thermostability, and less enzyme yield. However, the native folding within their full domain is dependent on a surrounding structure which challenges their functionality in substrate conversion, mainly due to their mutual interactions in the context of complex systems. Hence, manipulating their structure and controlling their expression systems could potentially produce enzymes with high selectivity and catalytic functions. The proteins produced by microbial aspartic proteases are industrially capable and far-reaching in regulating certain harmful distinctive industrial processes and the benefits of being eco-friendly. This review provides: an update on current trends and gaps in microbial protease biotechnology, exploring the relevant recombinant strategies and molecular technologies widely used in expression platforms for engineering microbial aspartic proteases, as well as their potential industrial and biotechnological applications.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Aspartic proteases
• molecular modification
• biocatalysis
• biotechnological applications
• microbial engineering

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This study was financially supported by Jiangsu Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Fund [CX(20)2029], the Key Research and Development Program (Modern Agriculture) of Jiangsu Province [BE2019358], and the Jiangsu Excellent Postdoctoral Project Fund (2022ZB681).