The hydrolysis of biomass to fermentable sugar (saccharification) and to oligosaccharide is an essential process in biotechnology including biorefinery and biofood. Various macroalgae are commercially cultivated in several Asian countries as a useful resource for food and agar production. Agar is a major component of the cell walls of red algae that can be hydrolyzed by agarase. Agarases are classified into α-agarase (E.C. 3.2.1.158) and β-agarase (E.C. 3.2.1.81) according to the cleavage pattern and grouped in the glycoside hydrolase (GH) family (GH-16, GH-58, GH-86, GH-96, and GH-118) based on the amino acid sequences of the proteins. Agarases have been isolated from various bacteria found in seawater and marine sediments. To increase productivity of the enzyme, a research on recombinant enzymes has been done. The application of recombinant agarase can be possible in the various filed such as energy, food, cosmetics, medical and so on. This paper reviews the source, biochemical characteristics and production system of recombinant agarases for further study.
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