Development of marine biotechnology as a resource for novel proteases and their role in modern biotechnology

Marine environment consists of the largest sources diversified genetic pool of material with an enormous potential for a wide variety of enzymes including proteases. A protease hydrolyzes the peptide bond and most of proteases possess many industrial applications. Marine proteases differ considerably from those found in internal or external organs of invertebrates and vertebrates. In common with all enzymes, external factors such as temperature, pH and type of media are important for the activity, catalytic efficiency, stability and proper functioning of proteases. In this review valuable characteristics of proteases in marine organisms and their applications are gathered from a wide literature survey. Considering their biochemical significance and their increasing importance in biotechnology, a thorough understanding of marine proteases functioning could be of prime importance.