Select the best: novel biocatalysts for industrial applications

The number of biocatalysts needed for biotechnological applications is increasing rapidly, necessitating the development of novel identification systems. To date, strategies based on high-throughput screening and selection are applied, with the latter enabling a desired phenotype to survive under appropriate conditions. The groups of Witholt and de Lorenzo have devised a novel selection system, comprising a transcriptional regulator that is activated upon binding to the product of a biocatalytic reaction, which paves the way for easier selection of many different biocatalysts.