Role of extremophiles and their extremozymes in biorefinery process of lignocellulose degradation.

Technological advances in the field of life sciences have led to discovery of organisms that live in harsh environmental conditions referred to as extremophiles. These organisms have adapted themselves to thrive in extreme habitat giving these organisms an advantage over conventional mesophilic organisms in various industrial applications. Extremozymes produced by these extremophiles have high tolerance to inhospitable environmental conditions making them an ideal enzyme system for various industrial processes. A notable application of these extremophiles and extremozymes is their use in the degradation of recalcitrant lignocellulosic biomass and application in biorefineries. For maximum utilization of the trapped carbon source from this obstinate biomass, pretreatment is a necessary step that requires various physiochemical and enzymatic treatments. From search for novel extremophiles and extremozymes to development of various genetic and protein engineering techniques, investigation on extremozymes with enhanced stability and efficiency is been done. Since extremozymes are easily calibrated to work under such conditions, they have become an emerging topic in the research field of biofuel production. The review discusses the various extremozymes that play an important role in lignocellulose degradation along with recent studies on their molecular and genetic evolution for industrial application and production of biofuels and various value-added products.

Lectins: Biological significance to biotechnological application.

Lectins are a set of non-enzymatic carbohydrate binding proteins appearing in all domains of life. They function to recognize, interact and bring about reversible binding of a specific sugar moiety present in a molecule. Since glycans are ubiquitous in nature and are an essential part of various biological process, the lectins are been investigated to understand the profile of these versatile but complex glycan molecule. The knowledge gained can be used to explore and streamline the various mechanisms involving glycans and their conjugates. Thus, lectins have gained importance in carbohydrate-protein interactions contributing to the development in the field of glycobiology. This has led to a deeper understanding of the importance of saccharide recognition in life. Since their discovery, the lectins have become a great choice of research in the field of glycobiology and their biological significances have recently received considerable attention in the biocontrol field as well as medical sectors.