Review
Nitrilases in nitrile biocatalysis: recent progress and forthcoming research
- † Equal contributors
1 The Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, People’s Republic of China
2 Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Engineering, School of Medicine and Pharmaceutics, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, People’s Republic of China
3 Laboratory of Bioactive Products Processing Engineering, School of Medicine and Pharmaceutics, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, People’s Republic of China
Microbial Cell Factories 2012, 11:142 doi:10.1186/1475-2859-11-142
Published: 30 October 2012Abstract
Over the past decades, nitrilases have drawn considerable attention because of their application in nitrile degradation as prominent biocatalysts. Nitrilases are derived from bacteria, filamentous fungi, yeasts, and plants. In-depth investigations on their natural sources function mechanisms, enzyme structure, screening pathways, and biocatalytic properties have been conducted. Moreover, the immobilization, purification, gene cloning and modifications of nitrilase have been dwelt upon. Some nitrilases are used commercially as biofactories for carboxylic acids production, waste treatment, and surface modification. This critical review summarizes the current status of nitrilase research, and discusses a number of challenges and significant attempts in its further development. Nitrilase is a significant and promising biocatalyst for catalytic applications.
