ALKALINE DETERGENT ENZYMES FROM ALKALIPHILES - ENZYMATIC-PROPERTIES, GENETICS, AND STRUCTURES

The cleaning power of detergents seems to have peaked; all detergents contain similar ingredients and are based on similar detergency mechan isms. To improve detergency, modern types of heavy-duty powder detegen ts and automatic dishwasher detergents usually contain one or more enz ymes, such as protease. amylase, cellulase, and lipase. Alkaliphilic B acillus strains are often good sources of alkaline extracellular enzym es, the properties of which fulfil the essential requirements for enzy mes to be used in detergents. We have isolated numbers of alkaliphilic Bacillus that produce such alkaline detergent enzymes, including cell ulase (CMCase), protease, alpha-amylase, and debranching enzymes, and have succeeded in large-scale industrial production of some of these e nzymes. Here, we describe the enzymatic properties, genetics, and stru ctures of the detergent enzymes that we have developed.