Microbial screening: Insights into production of enzymes with emphasis on proteases

Microorganisms can be isolated at random from various natural sources and tested individually for their fermentation potential, but the chances of finding one of value by this means are not very great. Only a very few members of a natural microbial population will possess the characteristics being sought. Thus, to find a microorganism that can do what we want it to do is not a simple matter.The most successful approach to finding such a microorganism is to utilize some technique that will allow the obtaining and testing of large numbers of microorganisms, but without requiring that extensive studies be carried out on each individual organism. Such a technique is available and is known as screening. To make effective use of the screening approach, one must first have access to natural microbial source that contains many different types of microorganisms, whether most of these organisms are not known to possess the biosynthetic abilities in which we are interested.Proteases are most important enzymes in industrial set up and are amongst the most studied protein. In the present scenario, the proteases are of more commercial interest than peptidases. The present article is an overview on the various aspects of microbial screening with emphasis on Proteases.