Microbial Enzymes for Industrial Application

Microbial Microbial production of gamma linolenic acid

Development of Bioprocesses for enzyme production is a major activity and expertise of the division. MPTD is known for its work on solid state fermentation processes for enzyme production. Use of agro-residues and other renewable biomass as substrates for production enzyme can significantly improve the cost economics of enzyme production.

The major enzymes which the division is working includes raw starch hydrolysing alpha amylases, phytase for feed applications, cellulases for biomass conversion and paper and pulp industry applications, chitinase for biocontrol applications, feruloylesterases for biorefining of Biomass, amidases for biotransformation, substrate specific aminopeptidases such leucine , methionine and proline specific peptidases (applications in protein hydrolysate preparations with improved functional properties),Keratinase for feather degradation and production of amino acids from feather etc.

We are also working on developing immobilized enzyme catalysts and have described immobilised amidase, lipases, beta glucosidase and amylase enzymes for various applications. Activities ranging from screening of natural microorganisms for nova activities to enzyme engineering using site directed mutagenesis is practised in the Lab.

Activities in the Area

  1. Screening niche environments for novel enzyme activities
  2. Enzyme assay development
  3. Process development and optimisation for enzyme production (Both Solid state and submerged fermentation)
  4. Process Scale-Up
  5. Development of downstream processes for enzyme recovery
  6. Purification and characterisation of enzymes
  7. Enzyme Application studies
  8. Development of immobilised enzyme catalysts
  9. Cloning and Over-expression of enzymes in bacterial, yeast and fungal systems
  10. Enzyme engineering for modification of properties
  11. Basic studies on enzyme structure function relationships

Enzyme Technologies Transferred to Industries

  1. Production of Phytase (Transferred to MAPS Enzymes, Ahmedabad)
  2. Production of Cellulase and use in Paper Pulp Refining (Transferred to Thermax India, Pune)
  3. Production of Alpha amylase (KayPees Biotech, Mysore)

  • Research Area :Microbial Processes and Technology