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Metagenome Analysis: a Powerful Tool for Enzyme Bioprospecting

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Abstract

Microorganisms are found throughout every corner of nature, and vast number of microorganisms is difficult to cultivate by classical microbiological techniques. The advent of metagenomics has revolutionized the field of microbial biotechnology. Metagenomics allow the recovery of genetic material directly from environmental niches without any cultivation techniques. Currently, metagenomic tools are widely employed as powerful tools to isolate and identify enzymes with novel biocatalytic activities from the uncultivable component of microbial communities. The employment of next-generation sequencing techniques for metagenomics resulted in the generation of large sequence data sets derived from various environments, such as soil, the human body and ocean water. This review article describes the state-of-the-art techniques and tools in metagenomics and discusses the potential of metagenomic approaches for the bioprospecting of industrial enzymes from various environmental samples. We also describe the unusual novel enzymes discovered via metagenomic approaches and discuss the future prospects for metagenome technologies.

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Acknowledgements

Aravind Madhavan acknowledges the Department of Biotechnology for financial support under DBT Research Associateship programme. One of the authors, Raveendran Sindhu, acknowledges the Department of Biotechnology for financial support under DBT Bio-CARe scheme.

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  1. Microbial Processes and Technology Division, National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology, CSIR, Trivandrum, 695 019, India

    Aravind Madhavan, Raveendran Sindhu, Binod Parameswaran, Rajeev K. Sukumaran & Ashok Pandey

  2. Rajiv Gandhi Centre For Biotechnology, Trivandrum, 695 014, India

    Aravind Madhavan

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  1. Aravind Madhavan
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  2. Raveendran Sindhu
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Correspondence to Ashok Pandey.

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Madhavan, A., Sindhu, R., Parameswaran, B. et al. Metagenome Analysis: a Powerful Tool for Enzyme Bioprospecting. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 183, 636–651 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-017-2568-3

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