High-throughput screening for efficient microbial biotechnology

•High-throughput screening (HTS) facilitates selection of the best performing strain.•Biosensor-enabled HTS obviates the need for sophisticated analytical instrumentation.•HTS has led to advances in the biodegradation of contaminants.•HTS has been leveraged for enzyme fingerprinting in biorefinery applications. Microbial systems have been widely studied and exploited through genetic engineering to address industrial needs and societal challenges. However, owing to their complexity, singular approaches often do not yield desired or optimal results, pushing researchers to explore combinatorial strategies. With advances in synthetic biology, various methods can readily be employed to generate large and comprehensive libraries. To serve as tractable tools, however, this capability necessitates the development of high-throughput screening (HTS) techniques to identify the best performing strain and/or those carrying the desired trait. Owing to their miniaturization, time efficiency, potential for automation, and so on, HTS enables comprehensive exploration of diverse experimental landscapes. Herein, we review the recent and novel HTS approaches and applications in the realm of microbial biotechnology.