ALKALINE PROTEASE VapK SUITABLE FOR LAUNDRY DETERGENT, vapk GENE, RECOMBINANT EXPRESSION VECTOR, AND TRANSFORMED MICROORGANISMS

Abstract: A novel alkaline protease VapK suitable for a laundry detergent is disclosed. The gene vapk coding for the protease VapK, the recombinant plasmids containing said gene, and the transformed V. metshnikovii KS1 (pSBCm) with said recombinant plasmid are also disclosed. In addition, a process for producing the protease VapK is disclosed.

Description: Alkaline Protease VapK Suitable for Laundry Detergent, vapk Gene, Recombinant Expression Vector, and Transformed Microorganisms FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an alkaline protease VapK suitable for a laundry detergent, produced by Vibrio metschnikovii KS l, and to the gene vapk coding for said protease. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 shows the restriction map of the recombinant plasmid pSBl of the present invention. Figure 2 shows the restriction map of the recombinant plasmid pSBCm of the present invention. Figure 3 shows the results of the Southern blotting of the vapk gene. A: Agarose gel electrophoresis of plasmid pSB l and V. metschnikovii KS l chromosomal DNA digested by Hind III (lane 1 : V. metschnikovii KS 1 chromosomal ON Ad Hind III; lane 2: V. metshnikovii KS l chromosomal DNA; lane 3: pSB l (super- coiled form); lane 4: pSB l/Hz III; lane 5: pT!T3/Hind III; lane 6: Pseudomonas sp. BK7; M: λ ON A/Hind III) B: Southern hybridization of DIG-labeled insert (0.7kb) of pSB l and V. metschnikovii KSl chromosomal DNA (lane 1 : V. metshnikovii KS l chromosomal ONAJHind III; lane 2: V. metshnikovii KS l chromosomal DNA; lane 3: pSB l (super-coiled form); lane 4: pS VHind III; lane 5: pTlT3/Hind III; lane 6: Pseudomonas sp. BK7; M: λ ONAJHind III). Figure 4 illustrates the subcloning for identifying the minimum size of the vapk gene. Figure 5 shows the nucleotide sequence of the vapk gene and the deduced amino acid sequence, wherein the symbol "=" indicates the mature form of N-terminal region identified by analysis of the N-terminal sequence and the symbol "*" indicates the active site. Figure 6 shows the comparison of the amino acid sequences of VapK (Vibrio alkaline protease K), VapT (Vibrio alkaline protease T), BAE (Bacillus sp. elastase TaB), and CAR (Bacillus licheniformis subtilisin Carlsberg), in which the symbol "*" indicates the active site. Figure 7 shows the results of SDS-PAGE of the recombinant VapK expressed in E. coli [lane 1 : V. metschnikovii culture broth; lanes 2 and 4: E. coli (pSBl) culture broth; lane 3: crude extract of E. coli (pSBl) culture cells; lane M: protein size markers indicating molecular weights]. Figure 8 shows the optimum pH and temperature of the recombinant VapK. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Enzymes used as laundry detergents have been continually improved since their commercialization in the 1970s. To date, protease, lipase, amylase, and cellulase have been developed for laundry detergents. Among these, protease has been the most widely used as an additive of laundry detergent. Widely used alkaline protease for laundry detergents exhibit their optimal activity at pHs 8 to 12 and at temperature of 40°C to 60°C. Most proteases used as detergent enzymes are produced by the Bacillus species. They are classified as a serine protease and are widely known as subtilisin. Subtilisin exhibits stability in high temperature but is not stable under certain conditions. Specifically, its activity is not maintained for a prolonged period upon exposure to urea, a protein denaturizing agent. Subtilisin also quickly and irreversibly loses its proteolytic activity at pH 4 or below. Moreover, the activity of subtilisin is weak at low temperature (15°C to 25°C). As such, it cannot be used effectively in Southeast Asia and Central and South America where people usually wash with low temperature water. U.S. Patent Nos. 5,741,694 and 5,482,849 describe subtilisin with biochemical properties altered through a site-directed mutagenesis. U.S. Patent No. 5,401,657 describes bacteria which produce an alkali-resistant enzyme useful as a laundry detergent. We isolated a vapk gene encoding a protease enzyme VapK, which can be advantageously used in laundry detergent in that it remains active at high temperature and at high alkaline pH, and is resistant to many surfactants and protein denaturants widely used in laundry detergents. The gene vapk has been cloned, sequenced and brought to expression in useful host cell. The gene vapk consists of 1,266 bp coding for 422 amino acids, and the molecular weight of the protease VapK is 27 kda. This enzyme is very resistant to various surfactants such as AOS or LAS and exhibits optimum activity at pH 10.5 and at the temperature of 50°C. Moreover, the protease VapK is more active at low temperatures than are commercially availiable enzymes. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a novel protease VapK having the following amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO. 1): Met Phe Lys Lys Asn Val Asn Arg Thr Val Leu Ala Gly Leu Leu Leu 1 5 10 15 Pro Thr Ser He Ser Leu Ala He Ala Ser Gin Leu Lys Asp Gin Glu 20 25 30 Val Pro Ser Phe Thr Pro Ser Val Ala Val Glu Asn His Gin Thr Glu 35 40 45 Gin Arg Tyr Phe Val Thr Tyr Val Pro Gly Ala Thr Ser Gly Pro Met 50 55 60 Arg Met Ser Gin Asn Gly Leu Thr Glu Thr Asp Phe Ser Leu Gin Lys 65 70 75 80 Ala Ala Asp He Leu Ser Thr Gin Gin Val Thr Val He Asn His Leu 85 90 95 Glu Ser Leu His Thr Ser Val Val Arg Val Thr Pro Thr Gin Ala Lys 100 105 1 10 Gin Leu Leu Asp Asn Ala Asp Val Ala Met He Glu Val Asp Pro He 100 105 110 Gin Leu Leu Asp Asn Ala Asp Val Ala Met He Glu Val Asp Pro He 115 120 125 Arg Tyr Leu Phe Asp Ala Glu He Glu Pro Tyr Ala Gin Gin Thr Pro 130 135 140 Tyr Gly He Arg Met Val Gin Ala Asp Gin Leu Ser Asp Val Tyr Ala 145 150 155 160 Ala Asn Arg Lys Val Cys Val He Asp Ser Gly Tyr Leu Arg Asn His 165 170 175 Val Asp Leu Pro Ser Ala Gly Val Thr Gly Ser Thr Phe Ser Gly His 180 185 190 Gly Ser Tφ Phe Thr Asp Gly Asn Gly His Gly Thr His Val Ala Gly 195 200 205 Thr He Val Ala Leu Asp Asn Asn Val Gly Val Val Gly Val Leu Pro 210 215 220 Ser Gly Leu Val Gly Leu His Asn Val Lys He Phe Asn Asp Ser Gly 225 230 235 240 Val Tφ Thr Arg Ala Ser Asp Leu He Gin Ala He Gin Ser Cys Gin 245 250 255 Ser Ala Gly Ser His Val Val Asn Met Ser Leu Gly Gly Ser Gin Gly 260 265 270 Ser Val Thr Glu Gin Lys Pro Met Arg Asn Phe Tyr Gin Gin Gly Met 275 280 285 Leu Leu Val Ala Ala Ala Gly Asn Ser Gly Asn Ser Gly Phe Ser Tyr 290 295 300 Pro Ala Ser Tyr Asp Ala Val Val Ser Val Ala Ala Val Asn Ser Ser 305 310 315 320 Gly Asn Val Ala Asn Phe Ser Gin Phe Asn Ser Gin Val Glu Leu Ser 325 330 335 Ala Pro Gly Val Gly Val Leu Ser Thr Gly Asn Asn Gly Gly Tyr Leu 340 345 350 Ser Tyr Ser Gly Thr Ser Met Ala Ser Pro His Val Ala Gly Val Ala 355 360 365 Ala Leu Val T Ser His Phe Pro Gin Cys Arg Pro Glu Arg He Arg 370 375 380 Gin Ser Leu Ser Gin Thr Ala Leu Asp Arg Gly Ala Ala Gly Arg Asp 385 390 395 400 Asn Phe Tyr Gly Tφ Gly He Val Gin Ala Arg Arg Ala Tyr Asn Tφ 405 410 415 Leu Ser Arg Asn Gly Cys 420 The present invention also provides a vapk gene having the following nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO. 2): agcttctaat acgactcact atagggaaag ct ttgct ttc ggttt tt tct gccgcttgac 60 agtagactaa aaaacgtaca gtttttttta cttaatagtc tatcaatatc attaatttaa 180 ccaataggta acaattcagt aaataaaagc aaacacattc acccagctaa taatagcttt 240 attaataaac tataaaactg gcgaatggct gccgttgtaa tgatccttga tgagtggtat 300 ttgccactaa cattttacaa ggataaaaaa atgttgaaga aaaatgtcaa ccgtacagta 360 ctggctgggt tattgttgcc aacttcaatc tcactggcaa tagcatctca gcttaaggat 420 caagaagtac cgagttttac cccctctgtt gctgttgaaa atcatcaaac agaacaacgc 480 tattttgtta cctacgtgcc tggggcaacc agcggaccaa tgcggatgag tcaaaacggc 540 ttaacagaaa cagatttctc tctgcaaaaa gccgccgata tattaagtac tcagcaagta 600 acggtcatca atcacctcga gtcattacat acttcagtgg ttagagtgac gccaactcaa 660 gccaagcaac tgctcgataa tgctgatgtg gcgatgatcg aagtcgaccc aatacgctat 720 ttattcgatg ctgagattga gccttacgca caacagaccc catacggaat ccgtatggta 780 caagccgatc aactctctga cgtttatgcg gctaatcgta aactttgcgt catcgactcg 840 ggatatcttc gcaaccatgt tgatctaccg agcgctggag tcacaggcag cactttctct 900 ggccatggtt catggttcac tgatggcaat ggtcatggaa ctcacgttgc agggacaatt 960 gtcgcactgg ataataatgt cggagttgtt ggggttctac cgtctggctt agtcggccta 1020 cacaacgtaa aaatctttaa cgattccggt gtctggactc gcgcttcgga tttgattcaa 1080 gctatccaat cttgtcaaag tgcaggcagt catgtggtaa atatgagttt aggtggtagc 1140 caaggcagtg taaccgaaca aaagccaatg cgtaactttt accaacaagg gatgctctta 1200 gttgcagcag caggtaactc aggaaacagc ggcttctcat acccggcgtc ttatgatgca 1260 gtggtctcag ttgcggcggt taactcaagt ggtaatgtgg ctaacttctc acagttcaat 1320 tcacaagttg aactctcggc accaggagtt ggggtactat caaccggtaa taatggcggc 1380 tacttaagct atagcggaac ctcaatggct tcacctcacg ttgcaggtgt cgcagcgctg 1440 gtttggagtc actttccaca atgtcgacca gagcgaatcc gtcagtcact cagtcaaacg 1500 gctctcgatc gtggtgccgc aggtagagat aatttttacg gttgggggat agttcaagcg 1560 agacgtgcct ataactggtt atctcgcaat ggctgt taat t tctaatat t gagaatatga 1620 acagggtact gagtaccctg t ttgt tat t t tccagagaca aatctaaccg tctaaattaa 1680 t ttgtttaat caattcttct tgtacacggt ctgcctcaga taagggaat t tgacaggt tc 1740 cagcggcatg atgaccgccg ccaccatat t tgagcat taa cgcaccaaca t tggt ttgg 1800 aactacgatc tttc 1814 In addition, the present invention provides a recombinant plasmid pSBl containing the vapk gene and expressing it. Further, the present invention provides a recombinant plasmid pSBCm containing the vapk gene and expressing it in a high yield. Furthermore, the present invention provides a Vibrio metschnikovii KSl (pSBCm) formed by transformation of V. metschnikovii KSl with the recombinant plasmid pSBCm. The present invention also provides a process for producing the protease VapK comprising the steps of culturing the V. metschnikovii KSl (pSBCm) under conditions which allow the expression of protease VapK, and purifying it from the culture broth. The characteristics of the recombinant plasmids pSBl and pSBCm according to the present invention and the processes for producing said plasmids are described below. Recombinant plasmid pSBl (Fig. 1) For cloning the vapk gene, chromosomal DNA of V. metschnikovii KS 1 was partially digested and inserted into a vector pT7T3 19U. The resulting recombinant vectors were introduced into a host cell. The transformed microorganisms were cultured on a solid agar medium containing skim milk and the transformant, showing a clear halo, was isolated. The plasmid was isolated and identified from the transformant. The identified plasmid was revealed that it contains a 3.0 kb DNA insert and two Hind III sites. The E. coli cells having the isolated plasmid DNA were cultured. The alkaline protease in the culture solution was analyzed and determined to have a molecular weight of 27 kDa and to exhibit optimum activity at pH 10.5. Recombinant plasmid pSBCm (Fig. 2) The recombinant plasmid was transformed into V. metschnikovii KSl to increase the productivity of the alkaline protease. Therefore, selection factors, such as antibiotic-resistance or colony-discoloration, were used to isolate the clone. The 3.0 kb vapk gene contained in plasmid pSB 1 was subcloned into vector pKF3 which includes the cat-5 gene for chloramphenicol resistance (Cm). V. metschnikovii KS 1 is sensitive to the antibiotic chloramphenicol. Therefore, it is easy to select the clone formed by transforming V. metschnikovii KS 1 with the recombinant vector. The ampicilin- resisting factor is not suitable for the selection of the clone because V. metschnikovii KS 1 shows resistance to the antibiotic ampicilin. The plasmid pSB 1 was digested with Hind III and the resulting fragment was subcloned into the vector pKF3 digested with the same restriction enzyme Hind III. The recombinant vector obtained therefrom was introduced into E. coli. A strain exhibiting resistance to chloramphenicol and showing halo arround the colony on the skim-milk plate was isolated. The isolated strain contains the recombinant plasmid pSBCm. This pSBCm vector was used in transforming V. metschnikovii KS 1. In addition to V. metschnikovii KSl, E. coli HB101, E. coli JM101, E. coli Topi OF ', V. metschnikovii RH530 N-4-8, etc. can be used as a host. To produce the desired alkaline protease, the transformed V. metschnikovii KS 1 was cultured in an LSC medium consisting of 1% Bacto-tryptone, 0.5% yeast extract, 1% sodium chloride, and 100 mM sodium carbonate buffer solution, pH 10.5. The activity of the alkaline protease was determined by the method of Yanagida et al with minor modifications. The reaction mixture was prepared by mixing 100 mM sodium carbonate solution with the supernatant formed after centrifuging the culture broth at 6,000 φm for 15 minutes. 0.5 ml of the fermentation broth was mixed with 2.5 ml of 1% prewarmed casein solution in 100 mM sodium carbonate buffer (pH 10.5). The resulting mixture was incubated at 37°C for 10 minutes. The reaction was terminated by adding a solution consisting 0.22 M trichloroacetic acid, 0.22 M sodium acetate and 0.22 M acetic acid. The reaction mixture was placed on ice for 10 minutes followed by centrifugation. 1 ml of the supernatant was mixed with 9 ml of distilled water. The optical density (O.DJ was measured at 280 nm. The result is indicated as unit. One unit of the enzyme is defined as the amount of protein which produces an increase of 0.1 absorbance unit under the assay conditions. The gene sequencing was conducted by a dideoxy chain termination method (Sanger et al., 1997, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 74: 5463-5467). The invention will now be described with reference to the following illustrative Examples. EXAMPLES Example 1 Construction of recombinant plasmid pSBl The recombinant plasmid pSBl was constructed by a shot-gun cloning method. After growth of V. metschnikovii KS 1, an alkaline oveφroducing-mutant, its chromosomal DNA was separated by the Mamur method (Mamur, et al., J. Mol. Biol. 3:208-218, 1961). The chromosomal DNA was partially digested with Hind III, and the fragment was precipitated with ethanol and recovered. The plasmid pT7T3 19U was prepared by the Birnboim and Doly method (Nucleic acids Res. 7: 1513-1523, 1979), and digested with Hind III. Both DNAs were ligated. The resulting recombinat plasmid was introduced into E. coli HB101. The transformant was plated on an LB- Ap-skim milk medium containing 1% bacto-tryptone, 0.5% bacto-yeast extract, 1% NaCl, 40 μg/ml of ampicilin, and 1% skim milk. Several colonies, each forming a clear halo around the colony, were selected as the clones possessing the alkaline protease gene. One of them was confirmed as harboring the vapk gene encoding the alkaline protease VapK. The recombinant plasmid with the vapk gene was designated as pSBl. The nucleotide sequence of the vapk gene of pSBl and the amino acid sequence of the expressed alkaline protease VapK were determined. In addition, the properties of the alkaline protease VapK were studied. Example 2 Identification of the recombinant plasmid pSBl Figure 1 shows the restriction map of the recombinant plasmid pSBl. The plasmid pSBl is 5.9 kb in length and contains 3.0 kb vapk gene. A Southern blotting with the chromosomal DNA of V. metschnikovii KSl was performed with the 3.0 kb vapk gene probe. As a result,it was concluded that the cloned gene was derived from V.metschnicovii KS 1. In addition, the recombinant vapk gene was digested with various restriction enzymes including Bal 31 exonuclease. As a result, it was found that at least 2J kb of the vapk gene is required for encoding the alkaline protease VapK (Fig. 4). Example 3 Illustration of the nucleotide sequence of the vapk gene The 3.0 kb vapk gene was digested with various restriction enzymes. Each of the resulting fragments was subcloned into plasmid pUC19. The overlapping sites were drawn. The nucleotide sequence was determined based on such overlapping sites (SEQ ID Nos 1 and 2, and Fig. 5). A single open reading frame (ORF) of 1,266 bp exists between base 331 and base 1,596. The real molecular weight of the protease VapK is 27 kDa as mentioned above. However, the MW of the enzyme deduced from the ORF is 45 kDa. The difference results from the processing of the precursor region during the extracellular secretion of the protease VapK. The precursor region is the signal sequence inducing the extracellular secretion of the expressed protein and consists of 25 amino acids. The site between Ala 25 and Ser 26 is expected to be processed. The amino acid positions 3 and 4 which are highly basic amino acids are lysine. The ammo acid positions 5 through 25 include strongly hydrophobic amino acids. The -35 region (5 TGACA3'), -10 region (5 ATAAAT3') and Shme-Dalgarno (SD) sequence (5'CAAGGA3') located 8 bp upstream of the initiation codon (ATG) are similar to those previously reported (Fig 5) The dyad symmetπcal sequence, located 18 bp downstream of the stop codon TAA, forms a stem-loop structure and functions as a rho (p) independent terminator The amino acid sequence of the protease VapK deduced from the nucleotide sequence of the vapk gene was compared to a variety of known proteases (Figs. 6 and 7) As shown in Figs. 6 and 7, the protease VapK has 8%, 29%, and 29% nucleotide sequence homology with VapT, TaB, and Bacillus subtilisin Carlsberg, respectively. In addition, it is observed that Hιs-202, Asp-169 and Ser-358 are well conserved as the active sites of all proteases (Figs. 6 and 7) Example 4 Characteπstics of the protease VapK expressed from the recombinant plasmid pSBl E. coli HB101 harbonng the plasmid pSBl was cultured in an LB medium. The culture broth was recovered and subjected to electrophoresis. As a result (Fig. 8), the expressed protease VapK was detected at the 27 kDa band. In addition, the proteolytic activity of the enzyme was measured. The results are shown in Table 1 below. Table 1 The proteolytic activity of expressed Vap K It can be seen from the above results that the vapk gene contained in the recombinant plasmid pSBl was expressed in E coli HB 101 and the expressed protease VapK was secreted extracellularly The protease VapK exhibited optimum activity at pH 10.5 and at 50°C (Fig 9) This enzyme showed stability in the entire pH range. However, the stability of the enzyme was influenced slightly by temperature. The protease VapK exerted high resistance to surfactants such as LAS (linear alkylbenzen sulfonate), SDS (sodium dodecyl sulfonate), and AOS (Sodium-α-olefin sulfonate), making it suitable as a laundry detergent. The additional characteπstics of the expressed recombinant VapK are shown in Table 2 below Table 2 Effects of Inhibitors on the activity of the protease VapK EDTA: ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid, PMSF: phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoπde, EGTA: ethyleneglycol-bis(β-amιnoethyl ether)N,N,N',N'-tetraacetιc acid. * The enzyme solution was previously reacted with each reagent at the given temperature for 20 minutes. The results indicated that the enzymatic activity of the protease VapK was inhibited only by PMSF,the seπne protease inhibitor Thus, the protease VapK is a seπne protease. In addition, the enzymatic activity of the protease VapK at the temperature 4°C was nearly identical with that at 20°C. That is, the enzyme VapK showed high activity at low temperature. Accordingly, the protease VapK is an advance over proteases used to date which are active only at high temperature In addition, the resistance of the protease VapK to vaπous surfactants was tested. The enzyme sample was appropπately diluted in distilled water. The diluted solution was mixed with each surfactant in the same ratio. The mixture was reacted at 25°C for 25 minutes. A substrate solution of 5 mM N-succinyl-ala-ala-pro-phe-p- mtroanilide in 1 M tπs-HCl, pH 9 0 was added to the reaction mixture in the ratio of 1 to 10. The reaction mixture was reacted at 25°C for 30 minutes. The optical density of the reaction mixture was measured at 410 nm to determine the enzymatic activity of the protease VapK. The results are shown in Table 3 below. Table 3 (a) Value relative to the activity of the enzyme measured in the absence of surfactant (b) SDS: sodium dodecyl sulfate (anionic surfactant) (c) AOS: Sodium-α-olefin sulfonate (anionic surfactant) (d) Nonionic surfactant. The above results demonstrate that the protease VapK is very stable to anionic surfactants such as SDS and AOS and to nonionic surfactants such as polyoxyethylene alkylether. Under general washing conditions, the amount of surfactant is no more than 1 ,000 ppm. Therefore, it is believed that the protease VapK remains stable to surfactants during washing. Example 5 Transformation and expression of the recombinant plasmid pSBCm to V. metschnikovii KSl The V. metschnikovii KS 1 was transformed with the recombinant plasmid pSBCm (Fig. 2).Vibrio strains secrete large amount of DNase extracellularly or within the periplasmic space. Furthermore,when the strains are shocked by high temperature, they easily die, even though the DNase is inhibited. Thus, the transformation could not be easily achieved by a conventional heat-shock method. Instead, the transformation was performed by electroporation under the following conditions: (1) Effect of the capacitance The transformation efficiency was tested by varifying the capacitance in the range of 1 μF to 50 μF. The survival rate was 96% at 1 μF and 9% at 50 μF. The survival rate decreased as the capacitance increased. The transformation efficiency was highest at 10 μF. (2) Effect of the electric field strength The transformation efficiency was tested by varifying the electric field strength in the range of 5 kV/cm to 10 kV/cm while fixing the capacitance at 10 μF. As a result, the highest transformation efficiency was obtained at 7.5 kV/cm. (3) Effect of the DNA concentration The transformation efficiency was tested by varifying the DNA concentration in the range of 10 ng to 5 μg while fixing 10 μF of capacitance and 10 kV/cm of electric field strength. As a result, the transformation efficiency increased in proportion to the DNA concetration. In addition, the enzyme activity of the transformed V. metschnikovii KSl (pSBCm) was tested. As shown in Table 4 below, the activity of the transformed V. metschnikovii KSl (pSBCm) was twice as high as that of the host strain V. metschnikovii KS 1. Table 4 Deposition of microorganisms and recombinant plasmids of the present invention The strain V. metschnikovii KSl of the present invention was deposited with the Korean Culture Center of Microorganisms, Seoul, Korea, on December 15, 1998, as Accession No. KCCM- 10141. Also, the strain E. coli Topi OF' containing the recombinant vector pSBCm of the present invention was deposited with the Korean Culture Center of Microorganisms on December 15, 1998, as Accession No. KCCM-10142. BUDAPEST TREATY ON THE INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION OF THE DEPOSIT OF MICROORGANISMS FOR THE PURPOSES OF PATENT PROCEDURE INTERNATIONAL FORM To. CHEILJEDΛNG Corporation 12F, CHEILJEDΛNG BLDG. RECEIPT IN THE CASE OF AN ORIGINAL 500, 5GΛ, NAMDΛEMOON-NO, issued pursuant to Rule 7. 1 by the CHUNG-KU, SEOUL, 100-095, INTERNATIONAL DEPOSITARY AUTHORITY KOREA identified at the bottom of this page I . IDENTIFICATION OF THE MICROORGANISM Accession number given by the Identification reference given by the INTERNATIONAL DEPOSITARY AUTHORITY: DEPOSITOR : Vibrio metschnikovii KSl KCCM- 10141 D . SCIENTIFIC DESCRIPTION AND/OR PROPOSED TΛXONOMIC DESIGNATION The microorganism identified under I above was accompanied by: □ a scientific description D a proposed taxonnmic designation (Mark with a cross where applicable) HI. RECEIPT AND ACCEPTANCE This International Depositary Λuthouity accepts the microorganism identified under I above, which was received by it on Dec. 15. 1998 (date of the original deposit) ' IV. INTERNATIONAL DEPOSITARY AUTHORITY Name : Korean Culture Center of Microorganisms Signature (s) of person (s) having the power to represent the International Depositary Address : Department of Food Engineering Authority of of authouϊJtri-bTfieiatfsJ : . . College of Eng. Yonsei University fe J Sodaemun-gu, Seoul 120-749 Date: Dec. 29. 199 • «'- \3? ; r r Korea 1 Where Rule 6. 4(d) applies, such date is the datp on which the status of international depositary authority was acquired : where a deposit made outside the Budapest Treaty after the acquisition of the status of i nternational depositary authority is converted into a deposit under the Budapest Treaty, such date is the date on which the microorganism was received by the international depositary authouiry. Form BP/4 (KCCM Form 17) Sole page BUDAPEST TREATY ON THE INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION OF THE DEPOSIT OF MICROORGANISMS FOR THE PURPOSES OF PATENT PROCEDURE INTERNATIONAL FORM To. CHEILJEDΛNG Corporation 12F. CHEILJEDΛNG BLDG. RECEIPT IN THE CASE OF ΛN ORIGINAL 500. 5GΛ, NΛMDΛEMOON-NO, issued pursuant to Rule 7. 1 by the CHUNG-KU. SEOUL. 100-095, INTERNATIONAL DEPOSITARY AUTHORITY KOREA identified at the bottom of this page I . IDENTIFICATION OF THE MICROORGANISM Accession number given by the Identification reference given by the INTERNATIONAL DEPOSITARY AITTHORΓTY: DEPOSITOR : Escherichia coli TOPlOFJpSBCmJ KCCM-10142 π . SCIENTIFIC DESCRIPTION AND/OR PROPOSED TΛXONOMIC DESIGNATION The microorganism identified under I above was accompanied by: D a scientific description D a proposed taxonnmic designation (Mark with a cross where applicable) ID. RECEIPT AND ACCEPTANCE This International Depositary Λuthouity accepts the microorganism identified under 1 above, which was received by on Dec. 15. 1998 (date of the original deposit) IV. INTERNATIONAL DEPOSITARY AUTHORITY Name : Korean Culture Center of Microorganisms Signature (s) of person (s) having the power to represent the International Deposjiary Address : Department of Food Engineering Authority of College of Eng. Yonsei University Sodaemun-gu, Seoul 120-749 Date: Dec. Korea 1 Where Rule 6. 4 (d) applies, such date is the date on which the status of international depositary authority was acquired : where a deposit made outside the Budapest Treaty after the acquisition of the status of i ntemational depositary authority is converted into a deposit under the Budapest Treaty, such date is the date on which the microorganism was received by the international depositary authouity. Form BP/4 (KCCM Form 17) Sole page

Claims: WHAT IS CLAIMED IS: 1. An alkaline protease comprising the following amino acid sequence: Met Phe Lys Lys Asn Val Asn Arg Thr Val Leu Ala Gly Leu Leu Leu 1 5 10 15 Pro Thr Ser He Ser Leu Ala He Ala Ser Gin Leu Lys Asp Gin Glu 20 25 30 Val Pro Ser Phe Thr Pro Ser Val Ala Val Glu Asn His Gin Thr Glu 35 40 45 Gin Arg Tyr Phe Val Thr Tyr Val Pro Gly Ala Thr Ser Gly Pro Met 50 55 60 Arg Met Ser Gin Asn Gly Leu Thr Glu Thr Asp Phe Ser Leu Gin Lys 65 70 75 80 Ala Ala Asp He Leu Ser Thr Gin Gin Val Thr Val He Asn His Leu 85 90 95 Glu Ser Leu His Thr Ser Val Val Arg Val Thr Pro Thr Gin Ala Lys 100 105 110 Gin Leu Leu Asp Asn Ala Asp Val Ala Met He Glu Val Asp Pro He 115 120 125 Arg Tyr Leu Phe Asp Ala Glu He Glu Pro Tyr Ala Gin Gin Thr Pro 130 135 140 Tyr gly He Arg Met Val Gin Ala Asp Gin Leu Ser Asp Val Tyr Ala 145 150 155 160 Ala Asn Arg Lys Val Cys Val He Asp Ser Gly Tyr Leu Arg Asn His 165 170 175 Val Asp Leu Pro Ser Ala Gly Val Thr Gly Ser Thr Phe Ser Gly His 180 185 190 Gly Ser Tφ Phe Thr Asp Gly Asn Gly His Gly Thr His Val Ala Gly 195 200 205 Thr He Val Ala Leu Asp Asn Asn Val Gly Val Val Gly Val Leu Pro 210 215 220 Ser Gly Leu Val Gly Leu His Asn Val Lys He Phe Asn Asp Ser Gly 225 230 235 240 Val Tφ Thr Arg Ala Ser Asp Leu He Gin Ala He Gin Ser Cys Gin 245 250 255 Ser Ala Gly Ser His Val Val Asn Met Ser Leu Gly Gly Ser Gin Gly 260 265 270 Ser Val Thr Glu Gin Lys Pro Met Arg Asn Phe Tyr Gin Gin Gly Met 275 280 285 Leu Leu Val Ala Ala Ala Gly Asn Ser Gly Asn Ser Gly Phe Ser Tyr 290 295 300 Pro Ala Ser Tyr Asp Ala Val Val Ser Val Ala Ala Val Asn Ser Ser 305 310 315 320 Gly Asn Val Ala Asn Phe Ser Gin Phe Asn Ser Gin Val Glu Leu Ser 325 330 335 Ala Pro Gly Val Gly Val Leu Ser Thr Gly Asn Asn Gly Gly Tyr Leu 340 345 350 Ser Tyr Ser Gly Thr Ser Met Ala Ser Pro His Val Ala Gly Val Ala 355 360 365 Ala Leu Val Tφ Ser His Phe Pro Gin Cys Arg Pro Glu Arg He Arg 370 375 380 Gin Ser Leu Ser Gin Thr Ala Leu Asp Arg Gly Ala Ala Gly Arg Asp 385 390 395 400 Asn Phe Tyr Gly Tφ Gly He Val Gin Ala Arg Arg Ala Tyr Asn Tφ 405 410 415 Leu Ser Arg Asn Gly Cys 420 2. An alkaline protease gene comprising the following nucleotide sequence. agcttctaat acgactcact atagggaaag ctttgctttc ggttttttct gccgcttgac 60 agatatttat gcgattcata atggataaat aatcattata aatcgccatg atgtaaatca 120 agtagactaa aaaacgtaca gtttttttta cttaatagtc tatcaatatc attaatttaa 180 ccaataggta acaattcagt aaataaaagc aaacacattc acccagctaa taatagcttt 240 attaataaac tataaaactg gcgaatggct gccgttgtaa tgatccttga tgagtggtat 300 ttgccactaa cattttacaa ggataaaaaa atgttgaaga aaaatgtcaa ccgtacagta 360 ctggctgggt tattgttgcc aacttcaatc tcactggcaa tagcatctca gcttaaggat 420 caagaagtac cgagttttac cccctctgtt gctgttgaaa atcatcaaac agaacaacgc 480 tattttgtta cctacgtgcc tggggcaacc agcggaccaa tgcggatgag tcaaaacggc 540 ttaacagaaa cagatttctc tctgcaaaaa gccgccgata tattaagtac tcagcaagta 600 acggtcatca atcacctcga gtcattacat acttcagtgg ttagagtgac gccaactcaa 660 gccaagcaac tgctcgataa tgctgatgtg gcgatgatcg aagtcgaccc aatacgctat 720 ttattcgatg ctgagattga gccttacgca caacagaccc catacggaat ccgtatggta 780 caagccgatc aactctctga cgtttatgcg gctaatcgta aactttgcgt catcgactcg 840 ggatatcttc gcaaccatgt tgatctaccg agcgctggag tcacaggcag cactttctct 900 ggccatggtt catggttcac tgatggcaat ggtcatggaa ctcacgttgc agggacaatt 960 gtcgcactgg ataataatgt cggagttgtt ggggttctac cgtctggctt agtcggccta 1020 cacaacgtaa aaatctttaa cgattccggt gtctggactc gcgcttcgga tttgattcaa 1080 gctatccaat cttgtcaaag tgcaggcagt catgtggtaa atatgagttt aggtggtagc 1140 caaggcagtg taaccgaaca aaagccaatg cgtaactttt accaacaagg gatgctctta 1200 gttgcagcag caggtaactc aggaaacagc ggcttctcat acccggcgtc ttatgatgca 1260 gtggtctcag ttgcggcggt taactcaagt ggtaatgtgg ctaacttctc acagttcaat 1320 tcacaagttg aactctcggc accaggagtt ggggtactat caaccggtaa taatggcggc 1380 tacttaagct atagcggaac ctcaatggct tcacctcacg ttgcaggtgt cgcagcgctg 1440 gtttggagtc actttccaca atgtcgacca gagcgaatcc gtcagtcact cagtcaaacg 1500 gctctcgatc gtggtgccgc aggtagagat aatttttacg gttgggggat agttcaagcg 1560 agacgtgcct ataactggtt atctcgcaat ggctgttaat ttctaatatt gagaatatga 1620 acagggtact gagtaccctg tttgttattt tccagagaca aatctaaccg tctaaattaa 1680 tttgtttaat caattcttct tgtacacggt ctgcctcaga taagggaatt tgacaggttc 1740 cagcggcatg atgaccgccg ccaccatatt tgagcattaa cgcaccaaca ttggtttgg 1800 aactacgatc tttc 1814 3. A recombinant plasmid pSBl containing the gene ofclaim 2. 4. A recombinant plasmid pSBCm containing the gene ofclaim 2. 5. A strain Vibrio metschnikovii KSl (pSBCm) produced by transforming Vibrio metschnikovii KSl with the recombinant plasmid pSBCm of claim 4. 6. A process for producing a protease VapK suitable for a laundry detergent which comprises cultivation of the strain of claim 5 under conditions permitting the expression of protease VapK and purifying the protease VapK from the culture.

Inventors: JIN GHEE HONG, KIM HYOUNG SUK, LEE HYUNE WHAN, RHO HYUNE MO, JIN, GHEE, HONG, KIM, HYOUNG, SUK, LEE, HYUNE, WHAN, RHO, HYUNE, MO
Applicants: CHEIL JEDANG CORP, JIN GHEE HONG, KIM HYOUNG SUK, LEE HYUNE WHAN, RHO HYUNE MO, CHEIL JEDANG CORPORATION, JIN, GHEE, HONG, KIM, HYOUNG, SUK, LEE, HYUNE, WHAN, RHO, HYUNE, MO
Application year: 2000
Main classification: C12N15
IPC codes: C11D3, C12N1, C12N9, C12N15, C12R1, G01N33