Thermozymes: biotechnology and structure-function relationships.

Recent findings on the biochemical and molecular features of the following thermozymes are presented, based on their biotechnological use: alpha-amylase and amylopullulanase, used in starch processing; glucose isomerase, used in sweetener production; alcohol dehydrogenase, used in chemical synthesis; and alkaline phosphatase, used in diagnostics. The corresponding genes and recombinant proteins have been characterized in terms of sequence similarities, specific activities, thermophilicity, and unfolding kinetics. Site-directed and nested deletion mutagenesis were used to understand structure-function relationships. All these thermozymes display higher stability and activity than their counterparts currently used in the biotechnology industry.