Extremophilic Fungal Proteases: Screening, Purification, Assay, and Applications

The use of extremophilic fungal proteases in industries has been an integral event for decades together and some of these fungal cultures are efficient producers of many hydrolytic enzymes. The fact that such proteases exhibit specific range of action and vast diversity in terms of being active over a very wide range of experimental conditions has made them attractive models for industrial usage. Besides being widely distributed in nature, extremophilic fungi are preferred over their mesophilic counterparts owing to their ability to tolerate harsher growth conditions and to overproduce hydrolytic enzyme with extraordinary properties. The search for novel extremophilc fungi as producers of proteases is a thrust area of research since such extremophilc proteases may find major applications in modern day food processing, beverage production, animal nutrition, leather and textiles processing, detergent manufacture, etc. This chapter addresses the basic characteristics and advantages of using extremophilc fungal proteases in industries. The major focus has been on discussing the potential fungal sources, screening strategies, assay techniques, purification regime of these valued macromolecules, and already documented roles of these extremophilic proteases in food, pharmaceutical, and beverage manufacturing sector.