The use of a turbid plate containing Z-D-Ala-D-AlaOBzl was a convenient met
hod for the screening of microorganisms with D-stereospecific peptidase act
ivity as well as D-stereospecific esterase activity. This paper discusses t
he suitability of the developed method and its application to molecular clo
ning of D-stereospecifc peptidase and esterase genes.