CLONING AND SEQUENCE-ANALYSIS OF THE X-PROLYL-DIPEPTIDYL-AMINOPEPTIDASE GENE (PEPX) FROM LACTOBACILLUS-DELBRUCKII SSP LACTIS DSM7290

Lactobacillus delbruckii ssp. lactis DSM7290 possesses an X-prolyl-dipeptidyl-aminopeptidase, designated PepX, which catalyses the hydrolytic removal of N-terminal dipeptidyl residues from peptides containing proline in the penultimate position. Using the specific substrate L-Ala-L-Pro-p-nitroanilide, PepX was purified by a four-step procedure including ammonium sulphate fractionation, hydrophobic interaction chromatography, ion exchange chromatography, and affinity chromatography. The N-terminus of the purified protein was sequenced. Screening of a gene library of chromosomal Lactobacillus delbruckii ssp. lactis DSM7290 DNA in the low-copy-number vector pLG339 resulted in the identification of the pepX gene in Escherichia coli using a specific plate assay with Gly-L-Pro-beta-naphthylamide as substrate. Nucleotide sequence analysis revealed an open reading frame of 2376 bp, coding for a protein of 792 amino acids with a molecular mass of 88449 Da.