[Isolation of glutamylendopeptidase precursor from B. licheniformis and its processing in vitro]

A secretory system based on L-form cells of Proteus mirabilis was developed for production of native Bacillus licheniformis glutamylendopeptidase precursor never formerly available. The produced precursor was stable per se under physiological conditions and in presence of trypsin and glutamylendopeptidase from B. intermedius. Complete conversion of the precursor to the mature glutamylendopeptidase was performed by bacillar metalloproteases and subtilisin. The artificially processed glutamylendopeptidase was purified by affinity chromatography on bacitracin-sepharose. Native tertiary structure in the purified glutamylendopeptidase was confirmed by demonstrating its activity towards a specific chromogenous peptide substrate.