Patent ID: 8877912

Claim:
An expression vector, comprising a nucleic acid sequence selected from the group consisting of: (a) a nucleic acid sequence encoding a polypeptide exhibiting the serine protease specificity of SEQ ID NO:18 and comprising the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:18; (b) a nucleic acid sequence encoding a polypeptide that comprises an amino acid sequence that exhibits serine protease activity and is at least 92% identical to the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:18, wherein sequence identity is determined using ClustalW alignment using matrix: BLOSUM, Gap Open: 10, and Gap Extension: 0.5, and wherein the amino acid sequence that exhibits serine protease activity has the serine protease specificity of SEQ ID NO:18; (c) a cDNA sequence comprising the coding sequence of the nucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:13, wherein the polypeptide encoded by the coding sequence, in its mature form, exhibits the serine protease specificity of SEQ ID NO:18; (d) a cDNA sequence comprising the coding sequence of the nucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:15, wherein the polypeptide encoded by the coding sequence, in its mature form, exhibits the serine protease specificity of SEQ ID NO:18; (e) a cDNA sequence comprising the coding sequence of the nucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:17, wherein the polypeptide encoded by the coding sequence exhibits the serine protease specificity of SEQ ID NO:18; (f) a cDNA sequence comprising the coding sequence of the nucleotide sequence in plasmid pALK2531 contained in the E. coli strain DSM 22209, wherein the coding sequence encodes a polypeptide, which in its mature form, exhibits the serine protease specificity of SEQ ID NO:18; (g) a nucleic acid sequence the coding sequence of which differs from the coding sequence of the nucleotide sequence of any one of (c) to (f) due to the degeneracy of the genetic code; (h) a nucleic acid sequence comprising the nucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:15 fused at its 5′ end to the nucleotide sequence of a heterologous signal sequence, SEQ ID NO:15 encoding a polypeptide, which in its mature form, exhibits serine protease activity; and (i) a nucleic acid sequence that hybridizes under stringent conditions with the complement of the nucleic acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:12 contained in DSM 22208 and encodes a polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence that exhibits the serine protease specificity of SEQ ID NO:18 and is at least 92% identical to the full-length amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:18, wherein sequence identity is determined using ClustalW alignment using matrix: BLOSUM, Gap Open: 10, and Gap Extension: 0.5, and wherein stringent conditions comprise hybridization in a solution comprising 6×SSC, 5×Denhardt's reagent, and 0.5% SDS at 65° C., and washing twice for 15 minutes at 65° C. in a solution comprising 0.1×SSC and 0.1% SDS.