| abstract |
Novel hybrid thermostable (1,3-1,4)- beta -glucanases, their use in food manufacturing and feed manufacturing, DNA fragments encoding such glucanases, organisms expressing the DNA fragments and a method for producing the thermostable (1,3-1,4)- beta -glucanases. Hybrid fusion genes encoding Bacillus (1,3-1,4)- beta -glucanases were constructed, the gene products of which are more thermostable than any (1,3-1,4)- beta -glucanase known until now. The hybrid genes were constructed by reciprocal exchanges of the amino-terminal and carboxy-terminal parts of the beta -glucanase encoding genes from Bacillus amyloliquefaciens and Bacillus macerans. The resulting thermostable (1,3-1,4)- beta -glucanases retain a significant enzymatic activity at temperatures exceeding 65 DEG C. and at pH values below 5.0. |