Recent developments in production and biotechnological applications of cold-active microbial proteases

Microbial proteases that occupy a pivotal position with respect to their commercial applications are most important hydrolytic enzymes and have been studied extensively since the advent of enzymology. Cold-adapted microorganisms are potential source of cold-active proteases and they have been isolated from the cold regions. Although there are many microbial sources available for producing proteases, only few are recognized as commercial producer. Cold-active proteases along with their producing microbes are of commercial value and find multiple applications in various industrial and biotechnological sectors such as additives in detergents, additives in food industries, environmental bioremediations, biotransformation and molecular biology applications. Therefore, cold-active proteases are the enzymes of choice for many biotechnologists, microbiologists, biochemists, environmentalists and biochemical engineers. In the present review, we discuss some novel sources along with recent developments in production and biotechnological applications of cold-active microbial proteases.