A despecialization step underlying evolution of a family of serine proteases.

Detection of the Keratinolytic Activity of Agriculture and Mount Barker Strain Dermatophilus congolensis Serine Proteases.

Isolation and Characterization of Thermophilic Alkaline Proteases Resistant to Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate and Ethylene Diamine Tetraacetic Acid from Bacillus sp. GUS1

Thermophilic Bacillus sp. GUS1, isolated from  a soil  sample obtained from citrus garden, produced at least three proteases as detected by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and zymogram analysis. The enzymes were stable in the alkaline pH range (8.0-12.0), with the optimum temperature and pH range of the proteases being 70ºC and 6.0-12.0, respectively. All th...

On the origins of esterases.

Comparisons among the primary sequences of five cloned eukaryotic esterases reveal two distinct lineages, neither bearing any significant overall sequence similarity to the functionally related serine protease multigene family. We have not eliminated the possibility that the esterases may have residual conformational similarities to the serine proteases. However, our profile analysis and analys...

Independent subtilases expansions in fungi associated with animals.

Many socially important fungi encode an elevated number of subtilisin-like serine proteases, which have been shown to be involved in fungal mutualisms with grasses and in parasitism of insects, nematodes, plants, other fungi, and mammalian skin. These proteins have endopeptidase activities and constitute a significant part of fungal secretomes. Here, we use comparative genomics to investigate t...

Substrate recognition drives the evolution of serine proteases.

A method is introduced to identify amino acid residues that dictate the functional diversity acquired during evolution in a protein family. Using over 80 enzymes of the chymotrypsin family, we demonstrate that the general organization of the phylogenetic tree and its functional branch points are fully accounted for by a limited number of residues that cluster around the active site of the prote...