Patent ID: 7179630

Claim:
An isolated polypeptide having protease activity, and having a melting temperature (T m ) of at least 78° C., as determined by Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) in a 10 mM sodium phosphate, 50 mM sodium chloride buffer, pH 7.0, using a constant scan rate of 1.5° C./min, wherein the polypeptide is selected from the group consisting of: (a) a polypeptide having an amino acid sequence which has a degree of identity to amino acids 1 to 188 of SEQ ID NO: 2 of at least 90%, wherein % identity is determined by the Clustal method; (b) a polypeptide which is encoded by a nucleic acid sequence which hybridizes under high stringency conditions with nucleotides 499–1062 of SEQ ID NO: 1; and (c) a polypeptide which is encoded by a nucleic acid sequence which has a degree of identity to nucleotides 499–1062 of SEQ ID NO: 1 of at least 90%.