Purification and Characterization of Caseinolytic Extracellular pretense from Bacillus amyloliquefaciens S94

From the culture supernatant of the psychrotrophic strain of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens an extracellular serine protease was purified to apparent homogeneity by successive purification steps using QAE-Sephadex, SP-Sephadex and Sephacryl S-100 column chromatography. The pretense is monomeric, with a relative molecular mass of 23,000. It is inhibited by the serine protease inhibitor phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, but not by EDTA. The enzyme is most active at pH 9-10 and at $45^{\circ}C$, although it is unstable at $60^{\circ}C$.