Patent ID: 7402420

Claim:
An isolated protein encoded by a nucleic acid molecule selected from the group consisting of (a) a nucleic acid molecule encoding at least the mature form of a protein comprising the amino acid sequence indicated in SEQ ID NO:2 or the amino acid sequence which is encoded by the insert of plasmid pAlsu-pSK within DSM 12666; (b) a nucleic acid molecule comprising the nucleotide sequence indicated in SEQ ID NO:1 or the nucleotide sequence of the insert of plasmid pAlsu-pSK within DSM 12666 or the corresponding ribonucleotide sequence; (c) a Leuconostoc mesenteroides nucleic acid molecule encoding a protein, the amino acid sequence of which has a homology of at least 90% to the amino acid sequence indicated in SEQ ID NO:2; (d) a nucleic acid molecule, the nucleotide sequence of which deviates on account of the degeneracy of the genetic code from the sequence of the nucleic acid molecules as defined in (a), (b) or (c), and (e) an enzymatically active fragment of any of the above, wherein said nucleic acid molecule encodes an alternansucrase protein that catalyzes the conversion of sucrose to alternan and wherein said isolated protein shows no contamination with another Leuconostoc mesenteroides protein.