Next-Generation Sequence: A Review on Metagenomic Approach to Discovery of Novel Enzymes from the Soil Environment

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) makes a large mass of sequences. As a technology that allows the sequence of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) molecules larger than one million base pairs, it has been applied in the food research and medical fields. In the food sector, NGS has been used in food safety for the detection of species authenticity of food products and for mostly discovering novel industrial enzymes. The soil ecosystem houses a great number of non-culturable microbes thus novels enzymes can still be discovered to date. The conventional methods used in enzyme discovery have less chances to identify novel gene clusters and bioactivities. Therefore, there is a dire need for high-throughput technology, together with advanced bioinformatics for the search of novel enzymes or biocatalysts from soil metagenomes. This review article thus gives a summary of the progress in the application of next-generation sequencing in the identification and characterization of novel enzymes with a special focus on enzymes from the soil environment.