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A New Screening Method for the Directed Evolution of Thermostable Bacteriolytic Enzymes
Published on: November 7, 2012
Advances in protease engineering for laundry detergents
Ljubica Vojcic1, Christian Pitzler1, Georgette Körfer1
1RWTH Aachen University, Worringerweg 3, D-52074 Aachen, Germany.
Abstract:
Proteases are essential ingredients in modern laundry detergents. Over the past 30 years, subtilisin proteases employed in the laundry detergent industry have been engineered by directed evolution and rational design to tailor their properties towards industrial demands. This comprehensive review discusses recent success stories in subtilisin protease engineering. Advances in protease engineering for laundry detergents comprise simultaneous improvement of thermal resistance and activity at low temperatures, a rational strategy to modulate pH profiles, and a general hypothesis for how to increase promiscuous activity towards the production of peroxycarboxylic acids as mild bleaching agents. The three protease engineering campaigns presented provide in-depth analysis of protease properties and have identified principles that can be applied to improve or generate enzyme variants for industrial applications beyond laundry detergents.
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