| abstract |
The present invention relates to an endopeptidase of lactic acid bacteria in isolated or purified form as well as to uses thereof, e.g., in the preparation of foods such as cheese, whippable products and meat products, or for preparing antibodies against the endopeptidase. The invention also relates to recombinant genetic information coding for the endopeptidase and transformed organisms expressing the endopeptidase. The endopeptidase can be isolated from Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris Wg2. It has a molecular weight of 70 kD +/- 5 kD; an isoelectric point of 4.1 +/- 0.4; a substrate range which includes peptides having five or more amino acids, metenkaphalin, bradykinin, glucagon, oxidized insulin beta -chain and neurotensin, and excludes peptides having less than 5 amino acids, and alpha -, beta - and kappa -casein; a hydrolysis activity dependent of Co<2><+>; a temperature optimum at 30-38 DEG C and a pH optimum at 6.0-6.5. |