Patent ID: 7622291

Claim:
An isolated agarase which comprises the amino acid sequence of 417 residues from residue 21 to residue 437 in the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:22, or an amino acid sequence that is encoded by a DNA which hybridizes to the nucleotide sequence of 1251 nucleotides from nucleotide 61 to nucleotide 1311 in the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:20 in a solution containing 6×SSC (1×SSC: 0.15 M NaCl, 0.015 M sodium citrate, pH 7.0), 0.5% SDS, 5×Denhardt's and 100 mg/ml herring sperm DNA at 65° C. and has an activity of hydrolyzing a β-1,4 bond between D-galactose and 3,6-anhydro-L-galactose in agarose.