Discovering novel enzymes from marine ecosystems: a metagenomic approach

There exists a massive pool of biodiversity in marine ecosystems. This biodiversity is an excellent source for acquiring an inventory of enzymes that can be used for a variety of biotech applications. This diversity has, to date, not been fully exploited. One major reason being the difficulties that arise in culturing many microorganisms in the laboratory, as opposed to natural conditions. However, advents of newer omics techniques, such as metagenomics have greatly enhanced the opportunity for sustainable resource management. It is in this context that metagenomics is rapidly emerging as an alternative approach to conventional microbial screening. Metagenomics allows for exhaustive screening of microbial genomes in their natural environments. In this review, an overview of work that uses genomic strategies to examine the biotechnological potential of the marine reservoir was explored. These genomic strategies include homology-driven screening of enormous amounts of sequence data and activity-based functional screening of genomic and metagenomic libraries. Finally, the review concludes with an overview of some of the potential challenges and future prospects of metagenomics in bioprospecting novel biocatalysts and bioactive compounds from marine sources.