Industrial biotechnology aims to compete as a stronger alternative ensuring environmental friendly microbial-based production that seeks to curb the predicament of pollution. However, the high cost of bioprocessing is a severe drawback, and therefore, new approaches must be developed to overcome this challenge. Halophiles have shown potentials of overcoming this challenge and are of much preference for unsterile and continuous contamination-free bioprocess due to their unique ability to grow under harsh environmental conditions. Recent advances in genetic manipulations have been established to better the performance of halophiles for industrial applications. Many researchers produced various products such as polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), ectoines, biosurfactants, and antioxidants using halophiles, and further efforts have been established to develop halophiles as the foundation for low-cost bioprocess. This paper provides a useful reference for researchers on the merits, drawbacks, achievements, and application of halophiles for bioproduction.
Keywords: Engineering technologies; Halophiles; Industrial biotechnology; Low-cost bioproducts; PHA.
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