Classifications

• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
  • C12N—MICROORGANISMS OR ENZYMES; COMPOSITIONS THEREOF; PROPAGATING, PRESERVING, OR MAINTAINING MICROORGANISMS; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING; CULTURE MEDIA
  • C12N9/00—Enzymes; Proenzymes; Compositions thereof; Processes for preparing, activating, inhibiting, separating or purifying enzymes
  • C12N9/14—Hydrolases (3)
  • C12N9/48—Hydrolases (3) acting on peptide bonds (3.4)
  • C12N9/50—Proteinases, e.g. Endopeptidases (3.4.21-3.4.25)
  • C12N9/52—Proteinases, e.g. Endopeptidases (3.4.21-3.4.25) derived from bacteria or Archaea
  • C12N9/54—Proteinases, e.g. Endopeptidases (3.4.21-3.4.25) derived from bacteria or Archaea bacteria being Bacillus
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C11—ANIMAL OR VEGETABLE OILS, FATS, FATTY SUBSTANCES OR WAXES; FATTY ACIDS THEREFROM; DETERGENTS; CANDLES
  • C11D—DETERGENT COMPOSITIONS; USE OF SINGLE SUBSTANCES AS DETERGENTS; SOAP OR SOAP-MAKING; RESIN SOAPS; RECOVERY OF GLYCEROL
  • C11D3/00—Other compounding ingredients of detergent compositions covered in group C11D1/00
  • C11D3/16—Organic compounds
  • C11D3/38—Products with no well-defined composition, e.g. natural products
  • C11D3/386—Preparations containing enzymes, e.g. protease or amylase
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
  • C12N—MICROORGANISMS OR ENZYMES; COMPOSITIONS THEREOF; PROPAGATING, PRESERVING, OR MAINTAINING MICROORGANISMS; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING; CULTURE MEDIA
  • C12N9/00—Enzymes; Proenzymes; Compositions thereof; Processes for preparing, activating, inhibiting, separating or purifying enzymes
  • C12N9/14—Hydrolases (3)
  • C12N9/48—Hydrolases (3) acting on peptide bonds (3.4)
  • C12N9/50—Proteinases, e.g. Endopeptidases (3.4.21-3.4.25)
  • C12N9/52—Proteinases, e.g. Endopeptidases (3.4.21-3.4.25) derived from bacteria or Archaea
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
  • C12N—MICROORGANISMS OR ENZYMES; COMPOSITIONS THEREOF; PROPAGATING, PRESERVING, OR MAINTAINING MICROORGANISMS; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING; CULTURE MEDIA
  • C12N9/00—Enzymes; Proenzymes; Compositions thereof; Processes for preparing, activating, inhibiting, separating or purifying enzymes
  • C12N9/14—Hydrolases (3)
  • C12N9/48—Hydrolases (3) acting on peptide bonds (3.4)
  • C12N9/50—Proteinases, e.g. Endopeptidases (3.4.21-3.4.25)
  • C12N9/64—Proteinases, e.g. Endopeptidases (3.4.21-3.4.25) derived from animal tissue
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C12—BIOCHEMISTRY; BEER; SPIRITS; WINE; VINEGAR; MICROBIOLOGY; ENZYMOLOGY; MUTATION OR GENETIC ENGINEERING
  • C12Y—ENZYMES
  • C12Y304/00—Hydrolases acting on peptide bonds, i.e. peptidases (3.4)
  • C12Y304/21—Serine endopeptidases (3.4.21)
  • C12Y304/21062—Subtilisin (3.4.21.62)

Definitions

• the present invention provides protease variants, compositions comprising protease variants, and methods of using such protease variants and compositions thereof.
• proteases have long been known in the art of industrial enzymes, there remains a need for engineered proteases that are suitable for particular conditions and uses. The present invention fills these and other needs.
• the invention provides an isolated protease variant of a parent protease enzyme, the protease variant having proteolytic activity and comprising an amino acid sequence which comprises an alteration at one or more amino acid positions corresponding to amino acid positions of SEQ ID NO:2 selected from the group consisting of positions 24, 53, 78, 97, 101, 128, and 217, wherein the at least one alteration is independently (i) an insertion of one or more amino acid residues upstream or downstream of the amino acid residue which occupies the position, (ii) a deletion of the amino acid residue which occupies the position, or (iii) a substitution of the amino acid residue which occupies the position with a different amino acid residue, wherein each amino acid position is numbered by correspondence with an amino acid position in the amino acid sequence of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens subtilisin protease BPN' set forth in SEQ ID NO:2 as determined by alignment of the amino acid sequence of the variant with SEQ ID NO:2.
• the invention provides an isolated protease variant of a parent protease, the variant comprising an amino acid sequence comprising three amino acid substitutions selected from the group consisting of X024G/R, X053G, X078N, X101N, X128A/S, and X217L/Q, wherein the variant has proteolytic activity and each amino acid position of the variant is numbered by correspondence to an amino acid position in the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2 as determined by alignment of the amino acid sequence of the variant with SEQ ID NO:2.
• the invention provides an isolated polypeptide having protease activity, said polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 85% sequence identity to a polypeptide sequence selected from the group consisting of:
• the invention provides an isolated polypeptide having protease activity selected from the group consisting of: (a) a polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% sequence identity to the polypeptide sequence of SEQ ID NO:6; (b) a polypeptide encoded by a polynucleotide that hybridizes under at least high stringency conditions with (i) the polynucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:5 or (ii) a complementary polynucleotide sequence of (i); and (c) a polypeptide encoded by a polynucleotide comprising a polynucleotide sequence having at least 95% sequence identity to the polynucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:5.
• the invention provides an isolated protease variant of a parent protease, wherein: (a) the variant comprises an amino acid sequence having no more than 20, 15, or 10 alterations relative to the parent protease, wherein (i) the alterations are independently selected from an insertion, a deletion, or a substitution, and (ii) the alterations include a substitution of glycine at positions 24 and 53, a substitution of asparagine at positions 78 and 101, a substitution of alanine or serine at position 128, and a substitution of glutamine at position 217, (b) the parent protease has at least 90% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:2, (c) the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2 is used for determining position numbering; and (d) the variant has increased proteolytic activity relative to the parent protease, wherein each amino acid position is numbered by correspondence with an amino acid position of the sequence of SEQ ID NO:2.
• the invention provides an isolated protease variant of a parent protease, wherein (a) the variant comprises an amino acid sequence (i) having at least 85% identity to the sequence of SEQ IDNO:2 and (ii) comprising a substitution of glycine at positions 24 and 53, a substitution of asparagine at positions 78 and 101, a substitution of alanine or serine at position 128, and a substitution of glutamine at position 217; (b) the parent protease has at least 85% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:2; (c) each amino acid position of the variant is numbered by correspondence with an amino acid position of the sequence of SEQ ID NO:2; and (d) the variant has increased proteolytic activity relative to the parent protease.
• the variant comprises an amino acid sequence (i) having at least 85% identity to the sequence of SEQ IDNO:2 and (ii) comprising a substitution of glycine at positions 24 and 53, a substitution of asparagine at positions 78 and 101,
• the invention provides an isolated or recombinant nucleic acid comprising a polynucleotide sequence encoding at least one polypeptide variant (e.g., protease variant) of the invention, or a complementary polynucleotide sequence thereof.
• a polypeptide variant e.g., protease variant
• the invention provides an isolated or recombinant nucleic acid comprising a polynucleotide sequence having at least 80% sequence identity to the polynucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:3 or SEQ ID NO:5, or a complementary polynucleotide sequence thereof.
• the invention provides an expression vector comprising at least one nucleic acid of the invention.
• a recombinant host cell or cell culture comprising at least one nucleic acid or an expression vector of the invention.
• the invention provides a method of producing at least one polypeptide (e.g., protease variant) of the invention, the method comprising: (a) introducing a recombinant expression vector of the invention which encodes a polypeptide (e.g., protease variant) of the invention into a population of cells; (b) culturing the cells in a culture medium under conditions conducive to produce the polypeptide (e.g., protease variant) encoded by the expression vector; and optionally (c) isolating or recovering the variant from the cells or from the culture medium.
• a recombinant expression vector of the invention which encodes a polypeptide (e.g., protease variant) of the invention into a population of cells
• culturing the cells in a culture medium under conditions conducive to produce the polypeptide (e.g., protease variant) encoded by the expression vector and optionally (c) isolating or recovering the variant from the cells or from the culture medium
• the invention provides a composition comprising at least one protease variant or polypeptide of the invention, optionally in combination with another enzyme.
• Such composition may comprise an adjunct ingredient, such as a surfactant and/or builder, or a carrier.
• Such composition may be a cleaning composition or a detergent composition and may be useful in cleaning methods described elsewhere herein.
• Such composition may be a fabric and home care product or such composition may not be a fabric and home care product.
• the invention provides a method for cleaning an item, object, or surface in need of cleaning, the method comprising contacting the item, object, or surface with a polypeptide or protease variant of the invention or a composition of the invention, and optionally rinsing the item, object, or surface with water.
• the invention provides a method for cleaning an item or surface (e.g., hard surface), the method comprising contacting at least a portion of the item or surface (e.g., hard surface) to be cleaned with a polypeptide or protease variant of the invention or a composition of the invention for a sufficient time and/or under conditions sufficient or effective to clean or wash the item or surface (e.g., hard surface) to a desired degree, and optionally comprising rinsing the item or surface (e.g., hard surface) with water.
• a polypeptide or protease variant of the invention or a composition of the invention for a sufficient time and/or under conditions sufficient or effective to clean or wash the item or surface (e.g., hard surface) to a desired degree, and optionally comprising rinsing the item or surface (e.g., hard surface) with water.
• Figure 1 provides a plasmid map of pHPLT-BPN' -v3.
• Figure 2 provides a plasmid map of pHPLT-BPN' -v3+S78N.
• Figure 3 provides a plasmid map of pHPLT-BPN' partial opt.
• Figure 4 provides a plasmid map of pHPLT-BPN' -v36.
• Figure 5 provides an alignment of the mature reference subtilisin proteases including: BPN' (SEQ ID NO:2) and GG36 (SEQ ID NO:755).
• BPN' SEQ ID NO:2
• GG36 SEQ ID NO:755
• Each amino acid position of each protease variant described herein, including each cold water protease variant, is numbered according to the numbering of the corresponding amino acid position in the amino acid sequence of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens subtilisin protease BPN' (SEQ ID NO:2), as shown in Figure 5, as determined by alignment of the protease variant amino acid sequence with the Bacillus amyloliquefaciens subtilisin protease BPN' amino acid sequence.
• substitution positions are given in relationship to BPN' .
• Figure 6 provides map of pHPLT-GG36.
• Figure 7 provides a map of pRA68.
• Figure 8 provides a map of pRA96.
• protease As used herein, the terms “protease” and “proteinase” refer to an enzyme protein that has the ability to break down other proteins.
• a protease has the ability to conduct “proteolysis,” which begins protein catabolism by hydrolysis of peptide bonds that link amino acids together in a peptide or polypeptide chain forming the protein.
• proteolytic activity This activity of a protease as a protein-digesting enzyme is referred to as “proteolytic activity.”
• proteolytic activity Many well known procedures exist for measuring proteolytic activity (see, e.g., Kalisz, "Microbial Proteinases," In: Fiechter (ed.), Advances in Biochemical
• proteolytic activity may be ascertained by comparative assays which analyze the respective protease' s ability to hydrolyze a commercial substrate.
• Exemplary substrates useful in the analysis of protease or proteolytic activity include, but are not limited to, dimethyl casein (Sigma C-9801), bovine collagen (Sigma C-9879), bovine elastin (Sigma E-1625), and bovine keratin (ICN Biomedical 902111). Colorimetric assays utilizing these substrates are well known in the art (see, e.g., WO 99/34011 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,376,450, both of which are incorporated herein by reference).
• the pNA assay (see, e.g., Del Mar et al., Anal. Biochem. 99:316-320 [1979]) also finds use in determining the active enzyme concentration for fractions collected during gradient elution.
• This assay measures the rate at which p-nitroaniline is released as the enzyme hydrolyzes the soluble synthetic substrate, succinyl-alanine-alanine-proline-phenylalanine-p-nitroanilide (suc-AAPF-pNA).
• the rate of production of yellow color from the hydrolysis reaction is measured at 410 nm on a spectrophotometer and is proportional to the active enzyme concentration.
• absorbance measurements at 280 nanometers (nm) can be used to determine the total protein concentration.
• the active enzyme/total protein ratio gives the enzyme purity.
• subtilase refers any member of the S8 serine protease family as described in MEROPS - The Peptidase Data base (see Rawlings et al., MEROPS: the peptidase database, Nucl. Acids Res., 34 Database issue, D270-272 [2006]).
• the peptidase family S8 contains the serine endopeptidase subtilisin and its homologues (Rawlings and Barrett, Biochem. J. 290:205-218, [1993]).
• Family S8 also known as the subtilase family, is the second largest family of serine peptidases.
• a typical S8 protein structure consists of three layers with a seven-stranded ⁇ sheet sandwiched between two layers of helices.
• Subtilisin (S08.001) is the type structure for clan SB (SB).
• SB subtilisin
• subtilisin and chymotrypsin (S01.001) can be superimposed, which suggests the similarity is the result of convergent rather than divergent evolution.
• a “protease variant” may refer to a protease that differs in its amino acid sequence from the amino acid sequence of a reference protease or parent protease by at least one amino acid residue.
• a parent protease or reference protease need not be a wild-type protease, but may itself be a variant of a wild-type protease. It is not intended that the reference or parent protease be limited to any particular amino acid sequence.
• a protease variant of a reference or parent protease may comprise an amino acid sequence comprising at least 60%, 70%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 91 %, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% identity to the amino acid sequence of the parent protease or reference protease and at least one amino acid substitution, insertion, or deletion relative to the amino acid sequence of the parent protease or reference protease.
• the invention includes a variant of a serine protease, wherein the variant has at least one mutation relative to the serine protease.
• the present invention includes a "BPN' variant" (or "BPN' subtilisin variant") comprising an amino acid sequence comprising one or more mutations relative to the mature BPN' sequence of SEQ ID NO:2.
• a parent protease or reference protease can be, but is not limited to, e.g., a known protease (including, but not limited to, e.g., BPN') or a commercially available protease or a variant of the commercially available protease.
• a parent protease or reference protease may itself be a variant of a known or commercially available protease.
• a protease variant can be derived from a parent protease that is commercially available or a variant of such commercially available parent protease.
• Commercially available proteases include, but are not limited to, e.g., proteases sold under the tradenames
• BLAP S99D+S101R+S 103A+ V104I+G159S, hereinafter referred to as BLAP) and BLAP X (BLAP with S3T+V4I+V205I).
• a "cold water protease” is an enzyme that exhibits one or more of the following four criteria: (a) a performance index of at least 1.1, at least 1.2, at least 1.3, at least 1.4, at least 1.5, at least 1.6, at least 1.7, at least 1.8, at least 1.9, at least 2, from 1.1 to about 10, from 1.1 to about 8, or even from 1.1 to about 5 on BMI at pH 8 and 16°C (60°F) when compared to PURAFECT® Prime (SEQ ID NO:2 with the amino acid substitution Y217L), as defined in the "Test Method” set forth herein in Part I Example 1 ; (b) a performance index of at least 1.3, at least 1.4, at least 1.5, at least 1.6, at least 1.7, at least 1.8, at least 1.9, at least 2, from 1.3 to about 10, from 1.3 to about 8, or even from 1.3 to about 5 on BMI at pH 8 and 16°C (60°F) when compared to BPN
• suitable cold water proteases are derived from subtilisins, particularly those derived from subtilisin BPN' (SEQ ID NO:2).
• a cold water protease can be a variant of BPN' having the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2 (e.g., "BPN' variant” or "BPN' subtilisin variant”).
• Some such cold water proteases comprise one or more of the amino acid substitutions set forth herein.
• the genus Bacillus includes all species within the genus Bacillus, as known to those of skill in the art, including but not limited to B. subtilis, B. licheniformis, B. lentus, B. brevis, B. stearothermophilus, B. alkalophilus, B.
• amyloliquefaciens B. clausii, B. halodurans, B. megaterium, B. coagulans, B. circulans, B. lautus, and B. thuringiensis. It is recognized that the genus Bacillus continues to undergo taxonomical reorganization. Thus, it is intended that the genus include species that have been reclassified, including but not limited to such organisms as B.
• stearothermophilus which is now named "Geobacillus stearothermophilus.”
• the production of resistant endospores in the presence of oxygen is considered the defining feature of the genus Bacillus, although this characteristic also applies to the recently named Alicyclobacillus, Amphibacillus, Aneurinibacillus, Anoxybacillus, Brevibacillus, Filobacillus, Gracilibacillus, Halobacillus, Paenibacillus, Salibacillus, Thermobacillus, Ureibacillus, and Virgibacillus.
• polynucleotide and “nucleic acid,” which are used interchangeably herein, refer to a polymer of any length of nucleotide monomers covalently bonded in a chain.
• DNA deoxyribonucleic acid
• RNA ribonucleic acid
• polynucleotides or nucleic acids having distinct biological function are examples of polynucleotides or nucleic acids having distinct biological function.
• Polynucleotides or nucleic acids include, but are not limited to, a single-, double- or triple-stranded DNA, genomic DNA, cDNA, RNA, DNA-RNA hybrid, or a polymer comprising purine and pyrimidine bases, or other natural, chemically, biochemically modified, non-natural or derivatized nucleotide bases.
• polynucleotides genes, gene fragments, chromosomal fragments, expressed sequence tag(s) (EST(s)), exons, introns, messenger RNA (mRNA), transfer RNA (tRNA), ribosomal RNA (rRNA), ribozymes, complementary DNA (cDNA), recombinant polynucleotides, branched polynucleotides, plasmids, vectors, isolated DNA of any sequence, isolated RNA of any sequence, nucleic acid probes, and primers.
• EST(s) expressed sequence tag(s)
• mRNA messenger RNA
• tRNA transfer RNA
• rRNA ribosomal RNA
• cDNA complementary DNA
• Some polynucleotides comprise modified nucleotides, such as methylated nucleotides and nucleotide analogs, uracyl, other sugars and linking groups such as fluororibose and thioate, and nucleotide branches.
• a sequence of nucleotides may be interrupted by non- nucleotide components.
• vector refers to a nucleic acid construct or polynucleotide construct used to introduce or transfer nucleic acid(s) or polynucleotide(s) into a target cell or tissue.
• a vector is typically used to introduce foreign DNA into another cell or tissue.
• a vector generally comprises a DNA sequence that is a transgene and a larger polynucleotide sequence that serves as the "backbone" of the vector.
• the vector typically serves to transfers genetic information, such as the inserted transgene, to a target cell or tissue so as to isolate, multiply, or express the insert in the target cell or tissue.
• Vectors include plasmids, cloning vectors, bacteriophages, viruses (e.g., viral vector), cosmids, expression vectors, shuttle vectors, cassettes, and the like.
• a vector typically includes an origin of replication, a multicloning site, and a selectable marker. The process of inserting a vector into a target cell is typically referred to as transformation in bacterial and yeast cells and as transfection in mammalian cells.
• the present invention includes a vector that comprises a DNA sequence encoding a protease variant (e.g., precursor or mature protease variant) that is operably linked to a suitable prosequence (e.g., secretory, signal peptide sequence, etc.) capable of effecting the expression of the DNA sequence in a suitable host.
• a protease variant e.g., precursor or mature protease variant
• a suitable prosequence e.g., secretory, signal peptide sequence, etc.
• expression cassette refers to a nucleic acid construct or vector generated recombinantly or synthetically for the expression of a nucleic acid of interest (e.g., a foreign nucleic acid or transgene) in a target cell.
• the nucleic acid of interest typically expresses a protein of interest.
• An expression vector or expression cassette typically comprises a promoter nucleotide sequence that drives or promotes expression of the foreign nucleic acid.
• the expression vector or cassette also typically includes any other specified nucleic acid elements that permit transcription of a particular nucleic acid in a target cell.
• a recombinant expression cassette can be incorporated into a plasmid, chromosome, mitochondrial DNA, plastid DNA, virus, or nucleic acid fragment.
• Some expression vectors have the ability to incorporate and express heterologous DNA fragments in a host cell.
• Many prokaryotic and eukaryotic expression vectors are commercially available. Selection of appropriate expression vectors is within the knowledge of those of skill in the art. Selection of appropriate expression vectors for expression of a protein from a nucleic acid sequence incorporated into the expression vector is within the knowledge of those of skill in the art.
• a DNA construct is an artificially constructed segment of nucleic acid that may be introduced into a target cell or tissue.
• a DNA construct typically comprises a DNA insert comprising a nucleotide sequence encoding a protein of interest that has been subcloned into a vector.
• the vector may contain bacterial resistance genes for growth in bacteria and a promoter for expression of the protein of interest in an organism.
• the DNA may be generated in vitro by PCR or any other suitable technique(s) known to those in the art.
• the DNA construct may comprise a nucleic acid sequence of interest. In one aspect, the sequence is operably linked to additional elements such as control elements (e.g., promoters, etc.).
• the DNA construct may further comprise a selectable marker and may further comprise an incoming sequence flanked by homology boxes.
• the construct may comprise other non-homologous sequences, added to the ends (e.g., stuffer sequences or flanks).
• the ends of the sequence may be closed such that the DNA construct forms a closed circle.
• the nucleic acid sequence of interest which is incorporated into the DNA construct, using techniques well known in the art, may be a wild-type, mutant, or modified nucleic acid.
• the DNA construct may comprise one or more nucleic acid sequences homologous to the host cell chromosome.
• the DNA construct may comprise one or more non-homologous nucleotide sequences.
• DNA construct may be used, e.g., to: 1) insert heterologous sequences into a desired target sequence of a host cell; and/or 2) mutagenize a region of the host cell chromosome (i.e., replace an endogenous sequence with a heterologous sequence); 3) delete target genes; and/or 4) introduce a replicating plasmid into the host.
• DNA construct is used interchangeably herein with "expression cassette.”
• plasmid refers to an extrachromosomal DNA molecule which is capable of replicating independently from the chromosomal DNA.
• a plasmid is double stranded (ds) and may be circular and is typically used as a cloning vector.
• introduction refers to any method suitable for transferring the nucleic acid sequence into the cell. Such methods for introduction include but are not limited to protoplast fusion, transfection, transformation, electroporation, conjugation, and transduction (see, e.g., Ferrari et al., “Genetics,” in Hardwood et al. (eds.), Bacillus. Plenum Publishing Corp., pp. 57-72 [1989]).
• Transformation refers to the genetic alteration of a cell which results from the uptake, genomic incorporation, and expression of genetic material (e.g., DNA).
• a nucleic acid is "operably linked" with another nucleic acid sequence when it is placed into a functional relationship with another nucleic acid sequence.
• a promoter or enhancer is operably linked to a nucleotide coding sequence if the promoter affects the transcription of the coding sequence.
• a ribosome binding site may be operably linked to a coding sequence if it is positioned so as to facilitate translation of the coding sequence.
• "operably linked" DNA sequences are contiguous. However, enhancers do not have to be contiguous. Linking is accomplished by ligation at convenient restriction sites. If such sites do not exist, synthetic oligonucleotide adaptors or linkers may be used in accordance with conventional practice.
• recombinant when used with reference to a cell typically indicates that the cell has been modified by the introduction of a heterologous nucleic acid sequence or that the cell is derived from a cell so modified.
• a recombinant cell may comprise a gene not found in identical form within the native (non-recombinant) form of the cell, or a recombinant cell may comprise a native gene (found in the native form of the cell) but which has been modified and re-introduced into the cell.
• a recombinant cell may comprise a nucleic acid endogenous to the cell that has been modified without removing the nucleic acid from the cell; such modifications include those obtained by gene replacement, site-specific mutation, and related techniques known to those of ordinary skill in the art.
• Recombinant DNA is a form of artificial DNA that is created by combining two or more nucleotide sequences that would not normally occur together through the process of gene splicing.
• Recombinant DNA technology includes techniques for the production of recombinant DNA in vitro and transfer of the recombinant DNA into cells where it may be expressed or propagated, thereby producing a recombinant polypeptide.
• nucleic acid or gene "amplification” refers to a process by which specific DNA sequences are disproportionately replicated such that the amplified nucleic acid or gene becomes present in a higher copy number than was initially present in the genome.
• Selection of cells by growth in the presence of a drug may result in the amplification of either the endogenous gene encoding the gene product required for growth in the presence of the drug or by amplification of exogenous (i.e., input) sequences encoding this nucleic acid or gene product or both.
• primer refers to an oligonucleotide (a polymer of nucleotide residues), whether occurring naturally as in a purified restriction digest or produced synthetically, which is capable of acting as a point of initiation of synthesis when placed under conditions in which synthesis of a primer extension product which is complementary to a nucleic acid strand is induced (i.e., in the presence of nucleotides and an inducing agent such as DNA polymerase and at a suitable temperature and pH).
• a primer is preferably single stranded for maximum efficiency in amplification, but may alternatively be double stranded. If double stranded, the primer is first treated to separate its strands before being used to prepare extension products.
• the primer may comprise an oligodeoxyribonucleotide.
• the primer must be sufficiently long to prime the synthesis of extension products in the presence of the inducing agent. The exact length of a primer depends on a variety of factors, including temperature, source of primer, and the use of the method.
• probe refers to an oligonucleotide, whether occurring naturally as in a purified restriction digest or produced synthetically, recombinantly or by PCR amplification, which is typically capable of hybridizing to another oligonucleotide of interest.
• a probe may be single- stranded or double-stranded. Probes are useful in the detection, identification and isolation of particular gene sequences. It is contemplated that any probe used in the present invention will be labeled with any "reporter molecule,” so that it is detectable in any detection system, including, but not limited to enzyme (e.g., ELISA, as well as enzyme-based histochemical assays), fluorescent, radioactive, and luminescent systems. It is not intended that the invention be limited to any particular detection system or label.
• PCR polymerase chain reaction
• amplification reagents refers to those reagents (e.g.,
• amplification reagents along with other reaction components are placed and contained in a reaction vessel (test tube, microwell, etc.).
• restriction endonuclease or “restriction enzyme” refers to an enzyme (e.g., bacterial enzyme) that is capable of cutting double-stranded or single-stranded DNA at or near a specific sequence of nucleotides known as a restriction site.
• the nucleotide sequence comprising the restriction site is recognized and cleaved by a given restriction endonuclease or restriction enzyme and is frequently the site for insertion of DNA fragments.
• a restriction site can be engineered into an expression vector or DNA construct.
• RNA sequence can be transcribed by an RNA polymerase to produce an RNA sequence, but an RNA sequence can be reverse transcribed by reverse transcriptase to produce a DNA sequence.
• “Host strain” or “host cell” refers to a suitable host for an expression vector comprising a DNA sequence of interest.
• a DNA sequence of interest may express a protein of interest in the host strain or host cell.
• a “protein” or “polypeptide” or “peptide” is a polymeric sequence of amino acid residues. A carboxyl group of one amino acid is linked to the amino group of another.
• the terms “protein” and “polypeptide” and “peptide” may be used interchangeably herein.
• a peptide comprises two or more amino acids. Peptides typically contain fewer amino acids than do polypeptides or proteins.
• the single and 3-letter code for amino acids as defined in conformity with the IUPAC-IUB Joint Commission on Biochemical Nomenclature (JCBN) is used through out this disclosure.
• the single letter X refers to any of the twenty amino acids. It is also understood that a polypeptide may be coded for by more than one nucleotide sequence due to the degeneracy of the genetic
• mutating the amino acid glycine (G) at amino acid position 87 in an amino acid sequence by substituting to the amino acid serine (S) for glycine (G) is represented as "G087S” or "G87S".
• the substitution of a glycine at position 2 with a threonine is represented as G002T; however, such substitution may also be represented as G02T or G2T.
• One or two leading zeroes (“0") may be included simply to provide a convenient three number designation for each amino acid position.
• the amino acid position "001" is the same as “1” and thus "A001C" is the same as "AIC".
• X001G refers to the substitution of glycine (G) at amino acid position 1 in an amino acid sequence, wherein the amino acid that is to be replaced by glycine is any amino acid.
• Multiple mutations are indicated by inserting a "-" between the mutations or by using a plus (+) sign between the mutations.
• amino acid substitutions at amino acid residue positions 87 and 90 in an amino acid sequence are represented as either "G087S-A090Y” or "G87S-A90Y” or "G87S + A90Y” or "G087S + A090Y”.
• the one letter code "Z” is used.
• the one letter code "Z" is on the left side of the position number.
• the one letter code "Z" is on the right side of the position number.
• the position number is the position number before the inserted amino acid(s), plus 0.01 for each amino acid.
• an insertion of three amino acids alanine (A), serine (S) and tyrosine (Y) between position 87 and 88 is shown as "Z087.01A-Z087.02S-Z087.03Y.”
• proteasequence or “propetide sequence” refers to an amino acid sequence between the signal peptide sequence and mature protease sequence that is necessary for the secretion of the protease.
• signal sequence or “signal peptide” refers to a sequence of amino acid residues that may participate in the secretion or direct transport of the mature or precursor form of a protein.
• the signal sequence is typically located N-terminal to the precursor or mature protein sequence.
• the signal sequence may also be referred to as a leader sequence.
• the signal sequence may be endogenous or exogenous.
• One exemplary exogenous signal sequence comprises the first seven amino acid residues of the signal sequence from Bacillus subtilis subtilisin fused to the remainder of the signal sequence of the subtilisin from Bacillus lentus (ATCC 21536).
• a signal sequence is normally absent from the mature protein.
• a signal sequence is typically cleaved from the protein by a signal peptidase after the protein is transported.
• hybrid signal sequence refers to signal sequences in which part of sequence is obtained from the expression host fused to the signal sequence of the gene to be expressed. Synthetic sequences can be utilized.
• mature form of a protein, polypeptide, or peptide refers to the functional form of the protein, polypeptide, or peptide without the signal peptide sequence and propeptide sequence.
• precursor form of a protein or peptide refers to a mature form of the protein having a prosequence operably linked to the amino or carbonyl terminus of the protein.
• the precursor may also have a "signal" sequence operably linked to the amino terminus of the prosequence.
• the precursor may also have additional polynucleotides that are involved in post-translational activity (e.g., polynucleotides cleaved therefrom to leave the mature form of a protein, polypeptide, or peptide).
• wild-type in reference to an amino acid sequence or nucleic acid sequence indicates that the amino acid sequence or nucleic acid sequence is native or naturally occurring sequence.
• naturally-occurring refers to anything (e.g., proteins, amino acids, or nucleic acid sequences) that is found in nature (e.g., has not been manipulated by means of recombinant or chemical methods).
• non-naturally occurring refers to anything that is not found in nature (e.g., recombinant or chemically synthesized nucleic acids produced in the laboratory).
• An amino acid residue in a particular amino acid sequence may be numbered by correspondence with an amino acid residue in a position of a reference amino acid sequence.
• An amino acid residue of an amino acid sequence of interest which is in a position that "corresponds to” or is “corresponding to” or in “correspondence with” the position of an amino acid residue of a reference amino acid sequence indicates that the amino acid residue of the sequence of interest is located at a position that is equivalent or homologous to the position of an amino acid residue in the reference amino acid sequence.
• One skilled in the art can determine whether a particular residue position in a polypeptide corresponds to a position of a homologous reference sequence.
• a protease variant may be aligned with that of a reference sequence (e.g., BPN' sequence of SEQ ID NO:2) using known techniques.
• the positions of the amino acid residues in the reference sequence are used for numbering of the amino acid residues in the sequence of interest. Accordingly, the amino acid residues of the protease variant may be numbered according to the corresponding amino acid residue position numbering of the reference sequence.
• the amino acid residues in the reference sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 may be used for determining amino acid residue position numbering of each amino acid residue of a protease variant of interest.
• homology refers to sequence similarity or identity, with identity being preferred. Homology may be determined using standard techniques known in the art (see, e.g., Smith and Waterman, Adv. Appl. Math. 2:482 [1981]; Needleman and Wunsch, J. Mol. Biol. 48:443 [1970; Pearson and Lipman, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 85:2444 [1988]; software programs such as GAP, BESTFIT, FASTA, and TFASTA in the Wisconsin Genetics Software Package (Genetics Computer Group, Madison, WI); and Devereux et al., Nucl. Acid Res. 12:387-395 [1984]).
• PILEUP One example of a useful algorithm is PILEUP.
• PILEUP creates a multiple sequence alignment from a group of related sequences using progressive, pair-wise alignments. It can also plot a tree showing the clustering relationships used to create the alignment. PILEUP uses a simplification of the progressive alignment method of Feng and Doolittle (see Feng and Doolittle, J. Mol. Evol. 35:351-360 [1987]). The method is similar to that described by Higgins and Sharp (see Higgins and Sharp, CABIOS 5: 151 -153 [1989]). Useful PILEUP parameters including a default gap weight of 3.00, a default gap length weight of 0.10, and weighted end gaps.
• BLAST BLAST algorithm
• WU-BLAST-2 WU-BLAST-2 uses several search parameters, most of which are set to the default values.
• the HSP S and HSP S2 parameters are dynamic values and are established by the program itself depending upon the composition of the particular sequence and composition of the particular database against which the sequence of interest is being searched. However, the values may be adjusted to increase sensitivity.
• the percent sequence identity (% sequence identity or simply % identity) between a subject polypeptide sequence and a reference polypeptide sequence means that the subject amino acid sequence is identical on an amino acid residue-by-amino acid residue basis by a specified percentage to the reference polypeptide sequence over a comparison length when the sequences are optimally aligned, as determined, for example, by an amino acid sequence comparison algorithm or visual inspection.
• the percent sequence identity between a subject nucleic acid sequence and a reference nucleic acid sequence similarly means the subject nucleotide sequence is identical on a nucleic acid residue-by-nucleic acid residue basis by a specified percentage to the reference nucleotide sequence over a comparison length when the sequences are optimally aligned.
• the percent sequence identity (percent identity or % sequence identity or % identity) between a reference sequence and a subject sequence of interest may be readily determined by one skilled in the art.
• the percent identity shared by two polypeptide sequences can be determined, for example, by direct comparison of the amino acid residues in each sequence by aligning the residues of the respective sequences for maximum similarity and determining the number of identical amino acid residues between the sequences by using a sequence comparison algorithm known in the art or by visual inspection.
• the two optimally aligned polypeptide sequences can be compared over the comparison length and the number of positions in the optimal alignment at which identical amino acid residues occur in both polypeptide sequences can be determined, thereby providing the number of matched positions, and the number of matched positions is then divided by the total number of positions over the comparison length. The resulting number is multiplied by 100 to yield the percent identity of the subject polypeptide sequence to the reference (or query) polypeptide sequence.
• the percent identity shared by two nucleic acid sequences can be similarly determined by direct comparison of the nucleotide residues in each sequence by aligning the residues of the respective sequences for maximum similarity and determining the number of identical nucleic acid residues between the nucleic acid sequences by using a sequence comparison algorithm or by visual inspection. The percent identity between two or more sequences may also be described as the sequences being a particular percent identical.
• HSPs high scoring sequence pairs
• Extension of the word hits is stopped when: the cumulative alignment score falls off by the quantity X from a maximum achieved value; the cumulative score goes to zero or below; or the end of either sequence is reached.
• the BLAST algorithm parameters W, T, and X determine the sensitivity and speed of the alignment.
• the BLAST program uses as defaults a wordlength (W) of 11, the BLOSUM62 scoring matrix (see Henikoff and Henikoff, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 89: 10915 [1992]) alignments (B) of 50, expectation (E) of 10, M'5, N'-4, and a comparison of both strands.
• the BLAST algorithm then performs a statistical analysis of the similarity between two sequences (see, e.g., Karlin and Altschul, supra).
• One measure of similarity provided by the BLAST algorithm is the smallest sum probability (P(N)), which provides an indication of the probability by which a match between two nucleotide or amino acid sequences would occur by chance.
• P(N) the smallest sum probability
• a nucleic acid is considered similar to a protease-encoding nucleic acid of this invention if the smallest sum probability in a comparison of the test nucleic acid to a protease-encoding nucleic acid is less than about 0.1, more preferably less than about 0.01, and most preferably less than about 0.001.
• test nucleic acid encodes a protease polypeptide
• it is considered similar to a specified protease-encoding nucleic acid if the comparison results in a smallest sum probability of less than about 0.5, and more preferably less than about 0.2.
• Optimal alignment or “optimally aligned” refers to the alignment of two (or more) sequences giving the highest percent identity score.
• optimal alignment of two polypeptide sequences can be achieved by manually aligning the sequences such that the maximum number of identical amino acid residues in each sequence are aligned together or by using software programs or procedures described herein or known in the art.
• Optimal alignment of two nucleic acid sequences can be achieved by manually aligning the sequences such that the maximum number of identical nucleotide residues in each sequence are aligned together or by using software programs or procedures described herein or known in the art.
• Two sequences may be deemed "optimally aligned” when they are aligned using defined parameters, such as a defined amino acid substitution matrix, gap existence penalty (also termed gap open penalty), and gap extension penalty, so as to achieve the highest identity score possible for that pair of sequences.
• a defined amino acid substitution matrix such as a defined amino acid substitution matrix, gap existence penalty (also termed gap open penalty), and gap extension penalty, so as to achieve the highest identity score possible for that pair of sequences.
• gap existence penalty also termed gap open penalty
• gap extension penalty e.g., gap extension penalty
• the alignment score is defined by the amino acid positions of each sequence at which the alignment begins and ends (e.g., the alignment window), and optionally by the insertion of a gap or multiple gaps into one or both sequences, so as to achieve the highest possible similarity score.
• Optimal alignment between two or more sequences can be determined manually by visual inspection or by using a computer, such as, but not limited to e.g., the BLASTP program for amino acid sequences and the BLASTN program for nucleic acid sequences (see, e.g., Altschul et al., Nucleic Acids Res. 25(17):3389-3402 (1997); see also the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) website) or CLUSTALW program.
• BLASTP program for amino acid sequences
• BLASTN program for nucleic acid sequences
• a polypeptide of interest may be said to be "substantially identical" to a reference polypeptide if the polypeptide of interest comprises an amino acid sequence having at least about 60%, 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 91 %, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99%, or 99.5% sequence identity to the amino acid sequence of the reference polypeptide.
• the percent identity between two such polypeptides can be determined manually by inspection of the two optimally aligned polypeptide sequences or by using software programs or algorithms (e.g., BLAST, ALIGN, CLUSTAL) using standard parameters.
• polypeptides are substantially identical.
• first polypeptide is immunologically cross-reactive with the second polypeptide.
• polypeptides that differ by conservative amino acid substitutions are immunologically cross -re active.
• a polypeptide is substantially identical to a second polypeptide, e.g., where the two peptides differ only by a conservative amino acid substitution or one or more conservative amino acid substitutions.
• a nucleic acid of interest may be said to be "substantially identical" to a reference nucleic acid if the nucleic acid of interest comprises a nucleotide sequence having at least about 60%, 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 91 %, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99%, or 99.5% sequence identity to the nucleotide sequence of the reference nucleic acid.
• the percent identity between two such nucleic acids can be determined manually by inspection of the two optimally aligned nucleic acid sequences or by using software programs or algorithms (e.g., BLAST, ALIGN, CLUSTAL) using standard parameters.
• One indication that two nucleic acid sequences are substantially identical is that the two nucleic acid molecules hybridize to each other under stringent conditions (e.g., within a range of medium to high stringency).
• isolated in reference to a particular component of interest means that component is essentially or substantially free of other components.
• an "isolated" polypeptide means the polypeptide is essentially or substantially free of other components, including, but not limited to, e.g., other polypeptides and cellular components.
• An “isolated” nucleic acid means the nucleic acid is essentially or substantially free of other components, including, but not limited to, e.g., other nucleic acids and cellular components.
• isolated refers to nucleic acids or polypeptides that are not part of a library (e.g., screening library).
• Purity and homogeneity are typically determined using analytical chemistry techniques, such as polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis or high-performance liquid chromatography.
• a protein or nucleic acid that is the predominant species present in a preparation is substantially purified.
• the term “purified” denotes that a nucleic acid or protein gives rise to essentially one band in an electrophoretic gel, chromatographic eluate, and/or a media subjected to density gradient centrifugation.
• purified means that when isolated, the isolate contains at least 85%, 90%, 91 %, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99%, or 99.5% or more of nucleic acid or protein by weight of the isolate.
• Purified polypeptides may be obtained by a number of methods including, but not limited to, e.g., laboratory synthesis, chromatography (e.g., high-performance liquid chromatography) preparative electrophoresis, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis followed by visualization upon staining, centrifugation, precipitation, affinity purification, etc. (see, generally, R Scopes, Protein Purification, Springer- Verlag, N.Y. (1982), Manuals in Enzymol., Vol. 182: Guide to Protein Purification, Academic Press, Inc. N.Y. (1990)).
• chromatography e.g., high-performance liquid chromatography
• the invention includes an isolated or purified polypeptides (e.g., isolated protease variants or subtilisin variants of the invention) and isolated or purified nucleic acids (e.g., nucleic acids encoding protease variants or subtilisin variants of the invention).
• isolated or purified polypeptides e.g., isolated protease variants or subtilisin variants of the invention
• isolated or purified nucleic acids e.g., nucleic acids encoding protease variants or subtilisin variants of the invention.
• the invention provides methods of enriching compositions for one or more molecules of the invention, such as one or more polypeptides of the invention (e.g., one or more protease variants of the invention) or one or more nucleic acids of the invention (e.g., one or more nucleic acids encoding one or more protease variants of the invention).
• a composition is enriched for a molecule when there is a substantial increase in the concentration of the molecule after application of a purification or enrichment technique.
• a substantially pure polypeptide or nucleic acid will typically comprise at least about 60%, 70%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 91 %, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98, 99%, 99.5% or more by weight (on a molar basis) of all macromolecular species in a particular composition.
• combinatorial mutagenesis refers to methods in which libraries of nucleic acid variants of a reference nucleic acid sequence are generated. In these libraries, the variants contain one or several mutations chosen from a predefined set of mutations. The methods also provide means to introduce random mutations which were not members of the predefined set of mutations. Some such methods include those set forth in U.S. Patent No. 6,582,914, hereby incorporated by reference. Some such combinatorial mutagenesis methods include and/or encompass methods embodied in commercially available kits (e.g., QUIKCHANGE® Multi Site-Directed Mutagenesis Kit (Stratagene)).
• kits e.g., QUIKCHANGE® Multi Site-Directed Mutagenesis Kit (Stratagene)
• protease variants of the invention may exhibit one of more of the following properties: enhanced or improved proteolytic activity, enhanced or improved stability, enhanced or improved ability to clean a surface or item, enhanced or improved cleaning performance, enhanced or improved fabric or laundry cleaning performance or wash performance, enhanced or improved hand wash performance, enhanced or improved hand or manual dishwashing performance, enhanced or improved automatic dishwashing performance, enhanced or improved laundry performance compared to a reference protease or parent protease of interest.
• the term "functional assay” refers to an assay that provides an indication of a protein's activity.
• the term typically refers to assay systems in which a protein is analyzed for its ability to function in its usual capacity.
• a functional assay involves determining the effectiveness of the enzyme in catalyzing a reaction.
• a property may be enzymatic activity (e.g., proteolytic activity), stability, or other property.
• mutant nucleic acid sequence typically refers to a nucleic acid sequence that has an alteration in at least one codon occurring in a host cell's wild-type sequence such that the expression product of the mutant nucleic acid sequence is a protein with an altered amino acid sequence relative to the wild-type protein.
• the expression product may have an altered functional capacity (e.g., enhanced enzymatic activity).
• net charge is defined as the sum of all charges present in a molecule.
• Net charge changes can be made to a parent protein molecule to provide a protein variant that has a net charge that differs from that of the parent protein molecule (i.e., the variant has a net charge that is not the same as that of the parent molecule). For example, substitution of a neutral amino acid of a protein with a negatively charged amino acid or substitution of a positively charged amino acid of a protein with a neutral amino acid results in net charge of -1 with respect to the unmodified protein. Substitution of a positively charged amino acid of a protein with a negatively charged amino acid results in a net charge of -2 with respect to the unmodified protein.
• Substitution of a neutral amino acid of a protein with a positively charged amino acid or substitution of a negatively charged amino acid of a protein with a neutral amino acid results in net charge of +1 with respect to the parent.
• Substitution of a negatively charged amino acid of a protein with a positively charged amino acid results in a net charge of +2 with respect to the unmodified protein.
• the net charge of a parent protein can also be altered by deletion and/or insertion of one or more charged amino acids.
• thermally stable and “thermostable” and “thermostability” in reference to a polypeptide indicates that the polypeptide is resistant to a permanent change in its activity caused solely by heat, such as, e.g., via exposure to higher temperature.
• a thermally stable enzyme means that the enzyme is resistant to a permanent change in its enzymatic activity caused solely by heat, such as, e.g., via exposure to higher temperature.
• a protease that is thermally stable is able to retain at least about 50%, 60%, 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 92%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% of its proteolytic activity after exposure to increased temperatures over a given time period, e.g., at least about 60 minutes, 120 minutes, 180 minutes, 240 minutes, 300 minutes, etc.
• Cleaning activity of a polypeptide or protease may refer to a cleaning performance achieved by a protease. Cleaning activity may be determined by using various assays for cleaning one or more of various enzyme-sensitive stains on an object, item, or surface (e.g., a stain resulting from food, grass, blood, ink, blood/milk/ink, milk/oil/pigment, egg yolk, milk, oil, and/or egg protein).
• various enzyme-sensitive stains e.g., a stain resulting from food, grass, blood, ink, blood/milk/ink, milk/oil/pigment, egg yolk, milk, oil, and/or egg protein.
• Cleaning performance of a polypeptide may be determined by subjecting the stain on the object, item, or surface to standard wash condition(s) and assessing the degree to which the stain is removed by using various chromatographic, spectrophotometric, or other quantitative methodologies.
• Exemplary cleaning assays and methods are known in the art and include, but are not limited to those described in WO 99/34011 and U.S. Pat. 6,605,458, both of which are herein incorporated by reference, as well as those cleaning assays and methods included in the Part I Examples and Part II Examples provided below.
• cleaning effective amount of a protease variant or reference protease refers to the amount of protease that achieves a desired level of enzymatic activity in a specific cleaning composition. Such effective amounts are readily ascertained by one of ordinary skill in the art and are based on many factors, such as the particular protease used, the cleaning application, the specific composition of the cleaning composition, and whether a liquid or dry (e.g., granular, tablet, bar) composition is required, etc.
• cleaning adjunct material refers to any liquid, solid, or gaseous material included in cleaning composition other than a protease variant of the invention.
• the cleaning compositions of the present invention may include one of more cleaning adjunct materials.
• Each cleaning adjunct material is typically selected depending on the particular type and form of cleaning composition (e.g., liquid, granule, powder, bar, paste, spray, tablet, gel, foam, or other composition).
• each cleaning adjunct material is compatible with the protease enzyme used in the composition.
• enhanced performance in the context of cleaning activity refers to an increased or greater cleaning activity by an enzyme on certain enzyme sensitive stains such as egg, milk, grass, ink, oil, and/or blood, as determined by usual evaluation after a standard wash cycle and/or multiple wash cycles.
• diminished performance in the context of cleaning activity refers to a decreased or lesser cleaning activity by an enzyme on certain enzyme sensitive stains such as egg, milk, grass or blood, as determined by usual evaluation after a standard wash cycle.
• institutions refers to products suitable for use in institutions including but not limited to schools, hospitals, factories, stores, corporations, buildings, restaurants, office complexes and buildings, processing and/or manufacturing plants, veterinary hospitals, factory farms, factory ranches, etc.
• fabric and home care product refers to a product or device generally intended to be used or consumed in the form in which it is sold and that is for treating fabric, hard surface and any other surface in the area of fabric and home care, including: air care including air freshener and scent delivery systems, car care, dishwashing, fabric conditioning (including softening and/or freshening), laundry detergency, laundry and rinse additive and/or care, hard surface cleaning and/or treatment including floor and toilet bowl cleaners, and other cleaning products for consumer and institutional use.
• cleaning composition and “cleaning formulation” refer to compositions that find use in the removal of undesired compound(s) from an item(s) to be cleaned, such as, but not limited to, e.g., fabric, laundry, dishes, dishware, contact lenses, other solid substrates, hair (including human or animal hair) (shampoos), skin (soaps, cosmetics, and creams), teeth (mouthwashes, toothpastes), non-fabric and home care objects, filters, membranes (e.g., filtration membrane, including, but not limited to, ultrafiltration membranes), hard surfaces and other surfaces, including, but not limited to, e.g., the hard surface of a table (table top or legs), wall, another furniture item or object, floor, ceiling, etc.
• cleaning composition and “cleaning formulation” refer to compositions that find use in the removal of undesired compound(s) from an item(s) to be cleaned, such as, but not limited to, e.g., fabric, laundry, dishes, dishware, contact lenses, other
• a cleaning composition or cleaning formulation may be useful in a personal care application and/or in personal care item, including, e.g., but not limited to, shampoo (for cleaning human or animal hair); soap, cream or cosmetics (for skin cleaning and/or skin care); mouthwash (for oral care); toothpaste (for cleaning teeth and/or oral care).
• the terms encompass any material/compound selected for the particular type of cleaning composition or formulation desired and the form of the product (e.g., liquid, gel, granule, or spray composition), as long as the composition or formulation is compatible with the protease and/or other enzyme(s) used in the composition or formulation.
• a cleaning composition or formulation may be a fabric and home care product (e.g., a cleaning composition for cleaning laundry).
• a cleaning composition or formulation is not a fabric and home care product (e.g., a cleaning composition for cleaning contact lens, hair, teeth, or skin, or useful in personal care applications and/or personal care items).
• Cleaning compositions and cleaning formulations include any composition that is suited for cleaning, bleaching, disinfecting, and/or sterilizing any object, item, and/or surface.
• compositions and formulations include, but are not limited to, for example, liquid and/or solid compositions, including cleaning or detergent compositions (e.g., liquid, tablet, gel, bar, granule, and/or solid laundry cleaning or detergent compositions and fine fabric detergent compositions; hard surface cleaning compositions and formulations, such as for glass, wood, ceramic and metal counter tops and windows; carpet cleaners; oven cleaners; fabric fresheners; fabric softeners; and textile, laundry booster cleaning or detergent compositions, laundry additive cleaning compositions, and laundry pre-spotter cleaning compositions; dishwashing compositions, including hand or manual dishwash compositions (e.g., "hand” or “manual” dishwashing detergents) and automatic dishwashing compositions (e.g., "automatic dishwashing detergents").
• cleaning or detergent compositions e.g., liquid, tablet, gel, bar, granule, and/or solid laundry cleaning or detergent compositions and fine fabric detergent compositions
• hard surface cleaning compositions and formulations such as for glass, wood, ceramic
• Cleaning compositions or cleaning formulations include, unless otherwise indicated, granular or powder-form all-purpose or heavy-duty washing agents, especially cleaning detergents; liquid, granular, gel, solid, tablet, or paste-form all-purpose washing agents, especially the so- called heavy-duty liquid (HDL) detergent or heavy-duty powder detergent (HDD) types; liquid fine- fabric detergents; hand or manual dishwashing agents, including those of the high-foaming type; hand or manual dishwashing, automatic dishwashing, or dishware or tableware washing agents, including the various tablet, powder, solid, granular, liquid, gel, and rinse-aid types for household and institutional use; liquid cleaning and disinfecting agents, including antibacterial hand-wash types, cleaning bars, mouthwashes, denture cleaners, car shampoos, carpet shampoos, bathroom cleaners; personal care items, such as, but not limited to, e.g., hair shampoos and/or hair-rinses for humans (and other animals), shower gels and foam baths, skin care items, cosmetic
• the invention provides a cleaning composition or detergent composition comprising at least one protease variant or polypeptide of the invention, wherein the cleaning composition or detergent composition is useful for cleaning contact lens(es).
• the invention provides a cleaning composition or detergent composition comprising at least one protease variant or polypeptide of the invention, wherein the cleaning composition or detergent composition is useful in a personal care application.
• the invention provides a cleaning composition or detergent composition comprising at least one protease variant or polypeptide of the invention, wherein the cleaning composition or detergent composition is useful for cleaning or rinsing hair, including human hair and/or animal hair (e.g., hair shampoo and/or hair -rinse).
• the invention provides a cleaning composition or detergent composition comprising at least one protease variant or polypeptide of the invention, wherein the cleaning composition or detergent composition is useful for cleaning or treating skin (e.g., human and/or animal skin) (e.g., shower gel, foam bath, skin care cleaner, cosmetic, cream, and/or bath soap).
• skin e.g., human and/or animal skin
• the invention provides a cleaning composition or detergent composition comprising at least one protease variant or polypeptide of the invention, wherein the cleaning composition or detergent composition is useful for cleaning teeth and/or dentures and/or for oral care.
• Such cleaning compositions or detergent compositions may comprise at least one adjunct ingredient or carrier, at least one additional enzyme, at least one builder, and/or at least one surfactant and may be formulated or in a form appropriate to their use.
• Such cleaning or detergent compositions may contain phosphate or may be phosphate-free. Additional details regarding compositions of the invention are provided elsewhere herein.
• fabric cleaning compositions include hand and machine laundry detergent compositions including laundry additive compositions and compositions suitable for use in the soaking and/or pretreatment of stained fabrics (e.g., clothes, linens, and other textile materials).
• non-fabric cleaning compositions include non-textile (i.e., non-fabric) surface cleaning compositions, including, but not limited to, for example, hand or manual or automatic dishwashing detergent compositions, oral cleaning compositions, denture cleaning compositions, and personal cleansing compositions.
• detergent composition or “detergent formulation” is used in reference to a composition intended for use in a wash medium for the cleaning of soiled or dirty objects, including particular fabric and/or non-fabric objects or items.
• Such compositions of the present invention are not limited to any particular detergent composition or formulation.
• the detergents of the invention may comprise at least one protease variant of the invention and, in addition, one or more surfactants, transferase(s), hydrolytic enzymes, perhydrolases, oxido reductases, builders (e.g., a builder salt), bleaching agents, bleach activators, bluing agents, fluorescent dyes, caking inhibitors, masking agents, enzyme activators, antioxidants, and/or solubilizers.
• a builder salt is a mixture of a silicate salt and a phosphate salt, preferably with more silicate (e.g., sodium metasilicate) than phosphate (e.g., sodium tripolyphosphate).
• Some compositions of the invention such as, but not limited to, cleaning compositions or detergent compositions, do not contain any phosphate (e.g., phosphate salt or phosphate builder).
• dishwashing composition refers to all forms of compositions for cleaning dishware, including cutlery, including, but not limited to, granular and liquid forms.
• the dishwashing composition is an "automatic dishwashing" composition that finds use in automatic dishwashing machines. It is not intended that the present invention be limited to any particular type of dishware composition.
• the present invention finds use in cleaning dishware (e.g., dishes, including, but not limited to plates, cups, glasses, bowls, etc.) and cutlery (e.g., utensils, including, but not limited to , spoons, knives, forks, serving utensils, etc.) of any material, including, but not limited to, ceramics, plastics, metals, china, glass, acrylics, etc.
• dishware e.g., dishes, including, but not limited to plates, cups, glasses, bowls, etc.
• cutlery e.g., utensils, including, but not limited to , spoons, knives, forks, serving utensils, etc.
• any material including, but not limited to, ceramics, plastics, metals, china, glass, acrylics, etc.
• the term "dishware" is used herein in reference to both dishes and cutlery.
• bleaching refers to the treatment of a material (e.g., fabric, laundry, pulp, etc.) or surface for a sufficient length of time and/or under appropriate pH and/or temperature conditions to effect a brightening (i.e., whitening) and/or cleaning of the material.
• a material e.g., fabric, laundry, pulp, etc.
• chemicals suitable for bleaching include, but are not limited to, for example, C10 2 , H 2 0 2 , peracids, N0 2 , etc.
• wash performance of a protease refers to the contribution of a protease variant to washing that provides additional cleaning performance to the detergent as compared to the detergent without the addition of the protease variant to the composition. Wash performance is compared under relevant washing conditions. In some test systems, other relevant factors, such as detergent composition, sud concentration, water hardness, washing mechanics, time, pH, and/or temperature, can be controlled in such a way that condition(s) typical for household application in a certain market segment (e.g., hand or manual dishwashing, automatic dishwashing, dishware cleaning, tableware cleaning, fabric cleaning, etc.) are imitated.
• condition(s) typical for household application in a certain market segment e.g., hand or manual dishwashing, automatic dishwashing, dishware cleaning, tableware cleaning, fabric cleaning, etc.
• relevant washing conditions is used herein to indicate the conditions, particularly washing temperature, time, washing mechanics, sud concentration, type of detergent and water hardness, actually used in households in a hand dishwashing, automatic dishwashing, or laundry detergent market segment.
• improved wash performance is used to indicate that a better end result is obtained in stain removal under relevant washing conditions, or that less protease variant, on weight basis, is needed to obtain the same end result relative to the corresponding wild-type or starting parent protease.
• the term "disinfecting” refers to the removal of contaminants from the surfaces, as well as the inhibition or killing of microbes on the surfaces of items. It is not intended that the present invention be limited to any particular surface, item, or contaminant(s) or microbes to be removed.
• the "compact" form of the cleaning compositions herein is best reflected by density and, in terms of composition, by the amount of inorganic filler salt.
• Inorganic filler salts are conventional ingredients of detergent compositions in powder form. In conventional detergent compositions, the filler salts are present in substantial amounts, typically about 17 to about 35% by weight of the total composition. In contrast, in compact compositions, the filler salt is present in amounts not exceeding about 15% of the total composition.
• the filler salt can be present in amounts that do not exceed about 10%, or more preferably, about 5%, by weight of the composition.
• the inorganic filler salts can be selected from the alkali and alkaline-earth-metal salts of sulfates and chlorides.
• the filler salt may be sodium sulfate.
• the position of an amino acid residue in a given amino acid sequence is typically numbered herein using the numbering of the position of the corresponding amino acid residue of the B.
• amyloliquefaciens subtilisin BPN' amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2 thus serves as a reference sequence.
• a given amino acid sequence such as a protease variant amino acid sequence described herein, can be aligned with the BPN' sequence (SEQ ID NO:2) using an alignment algorithm as described herein, and an amino acid residue in the given amino acid sequence that aligns (preferably optimally aligns) with an amino acid residue in the BPN' sequence can be conveniently numbered by reference to the corresponding amino acid residue in the subtilisin BPN' sequence.
• a fabric and home care product may comprise a protease (including a protease variant), including one or more protease variants of the invention and a material selected from the group consisting of an encapsulate comprising a perfume, a hueing agent, an amphiphilic cleaning polymer and mixtures thereof, with the balance of any aspects of the aforementioned composition is made up of one or more adjunct materials, is disclosed.
• a protease including a protease variant
• said fabric and home care product may comprise, based on total fabric and home care product weight, from about 0.005 weight percent (0.0005 wt%) to about 0.1 wt%, from about 0.001 wt% to about 0.05 wt%, or even from about 0.002 wt% to about 0.03 wt% of said protease.
• said fabric and home care product may comprise, based on total fabric and home care product weight, about 0.00003 wt% to about 0.1 wt%, from about 0.00008 wt% to about 0.05 wt%, or even from about 0.0001 wt% to about 0.04 wt% fabric hueing agent.
• said fabric and home care product may comprise, based on total fabric and home care product weight, from about 0.001 wt% to about 5 wt%, from about 0.01 wt% to about 2 wt%, or even from about 0.03 wt% to about 0.5 wt%, perfume capsules.
• said fabric and home care product may comprise, based on total fabric and home care product weight, from about 0.1 wt% to about 5 wt%, from about 0.25 wt% to about 2.5 wt%, or even from about 0.3 wt% to about 1.5 wt% amphiphilic cleaning polymer.
• polypeptides of the invention include isolated, recombinant, substantially pure, or non -naturally occurring protease variants, including, for example, subtilisin protease variant polypeptides, which have enzymatic activity (e.g., proteolytic activity) and/or additional properties discussed in greater detail elsewhere herein (e.g., cleaning activity, stability, etc.).
• Polypeptides of the invention include isolated, recombinant, substantially pure, or non-naturally occurring cold water proteases having proteolytic activities, cleaning activities, stability, and other properties discussed elsewhere herein.
• polypeptides including cold water proteases, of the invention may have enhanced performance relative to known proteases (e.g., enhanced proteolytic activity, enhanced cleaning performance or activity, enhanced stability, etc).
• Polypeptides of the invention are useful in cleaning applications and may be incorporated into cleaning compositions that are useful in methods of cleaning an item or a surface (e.g., of surface of an item) in need of cleaning.
• Polypeptides of the invention having proteolytic activity are useful in fabric and home care products, including, e.g., fabric and home care cleaning compositions. Some polypeptides of the invention having proteolytic activity are useful in personal care compositions. Polypeptides of the invention having proteolytic activity are also useful in non-fabric and home care products (i.e., those products that are not fabric and home care products are described herein).
• a protease variant of the invention may be a subtilisin protease variant.
• the invention includes Bacillus species protease variants and Bacillus species subtilisin protease variants.
• polypeptides of the invention are disclosed throughout this specification, including, but not limited to, Part I Examples and Part II Examples provided below.
• the invention includes an isolated, recombinant, substantially pure, or non-naturally occurring protease variant (e.g., a subtilisin variant) having proteolytic activity, which polypeptide comprises an amino acid sequence having at least about 60%, 70%, 80%, 85%, 86%, 87%, 88%, 89%, 90%, 91 %, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99%, 99.5%, or 100% sequence identity to a specific protease variant amino acid sequence set forth in any of the Part I and Part II Examples below.
• the invention includes an isolated, recombinant, substantially pure, or non-naturally occurring subtilisin polypeptide having proteolytic activity, wherein said polypeptide is a protease variant of the BPN' sequence of SEQ ID NO:2 and said polypeptide comprises an amino acid sequence having at least about 60%, 70%, 80%, 85%, 86%, 87%, 88%, 89%, 90%, 91 %, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, or 98% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:2 and a set of amino acid substitutions set forth in any of Part I Examples.
• the invention includes an isolated, recombinant, substantially pure, or non-naturally occurring subtilisin polypeptide having proteolytic activity, wherein said polypeptide is a protease variant of the GG36 sequence of SEQ ID NO:755 and said polypeptide comprises an amino acid sequence having at least about 60%, 70%, 80%, 85%, 86%, 87%, 88%, 89%, 90%, 91 %, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, or 98% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:755 and a set of amino acid substitutions set forth in any of Part II Examples.
• the invention provides an isolated or non-naturally occurring polypeptide protease variant of a parent protease enzyme, the variant having proteolytic activity and comprising an amino acid sequence which comprises an alteration at one or more amino acid positions corresponding to amino acid positions of SEQ ID NO:2 selected from the group consisting of positions 24, 53, 78, 97, 101, 128, and 217, wherein the at least one alteration is independently (i) an insertion of one or more amino acid residues upstream or downstream of the amino acid residue which occupies the position, (ii) a deletion of the amino acid residue which occupies the position, or (iii) a substitution of the amino acid residue which occupies the position with a different amino acid residue, wherein each amino acid position is numbered by correspondence with an amino acid position in the amino acid sequence of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens subtilisin protease BPN' set forth in SEQ ID NO:2 as determined by alignment of the amino acid sequence of the variant with SEQ ID NO:2.
• a variant of a protease enzyme according to the first aspect of the invention may be termed a protease variant.
• a variant according to the first aspect of the invention may be a non-naturally occurring protease.
• a variant according to the first aspect of the invention may be isolated or purified.
• a variant according to the first aspect of the invention may be a subtilisin variant.
• a variant according to the first aspect of the invention may have proteolytic activity.
• a variant according to the first aspect of the invention may have enhanced proteolytic activity compared to the proteolytic activity of the BPN' amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:2.
• a variant according to the first aspect of the invention may be a variant of a parent protease that is a subtilisin protease, and the subtilisin protease may be a Bacillus species protease.
• a parent Bacillus protease according to the first aspect of the invention may be selected from the group consisting of B. amyloliquefaciens subtilisin protease BPN' (SEQ ID NO:2), B. stearothermophilus, B. subtilis, B.
• a parent protease according to the first aspect of the invention may comprise an amino acid sequence having at least 60%, 70%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 91 %, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99% or 100% sequence identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:4, or SEQ ID NO:6.
• a variant according to the first aspect of the invention may be a protease variant having a mature form.
• a variant according to the first aspect of the invention may be a protease variant having a mature form.
• a variant according to the first aspect of the invention may comprise an amino acid sequence comprising an alteration at two amino acid positions selected from the group consisting of positions 24, 53, 78, 97, 101, 128, and 217.
• a variant according to the first aspect of the invention may comprise an amino acid sequence comprising an alteration at three amino acid positions selected from the group consisting of positions 24, 53, 78, 97, 101, 128, and 217.
• a variant according to the first aspect of the invention may comprise an amino acid sequence comprising an alteration at four amino acid positions selected from the group consisting of positions 24, 53, 78, 97, 101, 128, and 217.
• a variant according to the first aspect of the invention may comprise an amino acid sequence comprising an alteration at five amino acid positions selected from the group consisting of positions 24, 53, 78, 97, 101, 128, and 217.
• a variant according to the first aspect of the invention may comprise an amino acid sequence comprising an alteration at six amino acid positions selected from the group consisting of positions 24, 53, 78, 97, 101, 128, and 217.
• a variant according to the first aspect of the invention may comprise an amino acid sequence comprising an alteration at each of the amino acid positions corresponding to positions of SEQ ID NO:2 selected from the group consisting of positions 24, 53, 78, 97, 101, 128, and 217.
• a variant according to the first aspect of the invention may comprise an amino acid sequence comprising a substitution of an amino acid residue with a different amino acid residue at a position selected from the group consisting of positions 24, 53, 78, 97, 101, 128, and 217.
• a variant according to the first aspect of the invention may comprise an amino acid sequence comprising a substitution of an amino acid residue with a different amino acid residue at each of two or three positions selected from the group consisting of positions 24, 53, 78, 97, 101, 128, and 217.
• a variant according to the first aspect of the invention may comprise an amino acid sequence comprising a substitution of an amino acid residue with a different amino acid residue at each of four positions selected from the group consisting of positions 24, 53, 78, 97, 101, 128, and 217.
• a variant according to the first aspect of the invention may comprise an amino acid sequence comprising a substitution of an amino acid residue with a different amino acid residue at each of five positions selected from the group consisting of positions 24, 53, 78, 97, 101, 128, and 217.
• a variant according to the first aspect of the invention may comprises an amino acid sequence comprising a substitution of an amino acid residue with a different amino acid residue at each of six or seven positions selected from the group consisting of positions 24, 53, 78, 97, 101, 128, and 217.
• a variant according to the first aspect of the invention may comprise an amino acid sequence comprising a substitution of an amino acid residue with a different amino acid residue at each of positions 24, 53, 78, 101, 128, and 217, wherein each position is numbered by correspondence with a position in SEQ ID NO:2.
• a variant according to the first aspect of the invention may comprise an amino acid sequence comprising at least one amino acid substitution selected from the group consisting of X024G/R, X053G, X078N, X097A, X101N, X128A/S, and X217Q/L.
• a variant according to the first aspect of the invention may comprise an amino acid sequence comprising at least two amino acid substitutions selected from the group consisting of X024G R, X053G, X078N, X097A, X101N, X128A/S, and X217Q/L.
• a variant according to the first aspect of the invention may comprise an amino acid sequence comprising at least three amino acid substitutions selected from the group consisting of X024G/R, X053G, X078N, X097 A, X101N, X128A/S, and X217Q/L.
• a variant according to the first aspect of the invention may comprise an amino acid sequence comprising at least four amino acid substitutions selected from the group consisting of X024G/R, X053G, X078N, X097A, X101N, X128A/S, and X217Q/L.
• a variant according to the first aspect of the invention may comprise an amino acid sequence comprising at least five amino acid substitutions selected from the group consisting of X024G R, X053G, X078N, X097A, X101N, X128A/S, and X217Q/L.
• a variant according to the first aspect of the invention may comprise an amino acid sequence comprising at least six amino acid substitutions selected from the group consisting of X024G/R, X053G, X078N, X097A, X101N, X128A/S, and X217Q/L.
• a variant according to the first aspect of the invention may comprise an amino acid sequence comprising a set of substitutions selected from the group consisting of: (a) X128A/S and/or X217L/Q, (b) G128A/S and/or Y217L/Q, and (c) G097A, G128A/S, and Y217L/Q.
• a variant according to the first aspect of the invention may comprise an amino acid sequence comprising amino acid substitutions
• the variant has proteolytic activity; and wherein optionally the variant has enhanced proteolytic activity or enhanced cleaning activity compared to the protease set forth in SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:4, or SEQ ID NO:6 or a performance index in a proteolytic assay (e.g., AAPF assay) or cleaning assay (e.g., BMI, grass, or egg microswatch assay) that is greater than that of the protease set forth in SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:4, or SEQ ID NO:6.
• a proteolytic assay e.g., AAPF assay
• cleaning assay e.g., BMI, grass, or egg microswatch assay
• a variant according to the first aspect of the invention may comprise at least one amino acid substitution selected from the group of S024G, S053G, S078N, S101N, G128A/S, and Y217Q.
• a variant according to the first aspect of the invention may comprise an amino acid sequence comprising amino acid substitutions S024G+S053G+S078N+S 101N+G128A+Y217Q.
• a variant according to the first aspect of the invention may comprise an amino acid sequence having at least 60%, 65%, 70%, 80%, or 85% sequence identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2.
• a variant according to the first aspect of the invention may comprise an amino acid sequence having at least 90% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:2.
• a variant according to the first aspect of the invention may comprise an amino acid sequence having at least 91 %, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:2.
• a variant according to the first aspect of the invention may comprise an amino acid sequence having at least 95% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:2.
• a variant according to the first aspect of the invention may have enhanced proteolytic activity compared to the proteolytic activity of the protease set forth in SEQ ID NO:2.
• a variant according to the first aspect of the invention may have enhanced proteolytic activity compared to the proteolytic activity of the protease set forth in SEQ ID NO:4.
• a variant according to the first aspect of the invention may have enhanced proteolytic activity compared to the proteolytic activity of the protease set forth in SEQ ID NO:6.
• a variant according to the first aspect of the invention may have enhanced cleaning activity compared to the cleaning activity of the protease set forth in SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:4, or SEQ ID NO:6.
• a variant according to the first aspect of the invention may a performance index in a proteolytic assay (e.g., AAPF assay) or cleaning assay (e.g., BMI, grass, or egg microswatch assay) that is greater than that of the protease set forth in SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:4, or SEQ ID NO:6.
• a proteolytic assay e.g., AAPF assay
• cleaning assay e.g., BMI, grass, or egg microswatch assay
• the invention provides an isolated or non-naturally occurring polypeptide protease variant of a parent protease, the variant comprising an amino acid sequence comprising three amino acid substitutions selected from the group consisting of X024G/R, X053G, X078N, X101N,
• a variant according to the first aspect of the invention may have enhanced proteolytic activity or enhanced cleaning activity compared to the protease set forth in SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:4, or SEQ ID NO:6.
• a variant according to the first aspect of the invention may have a performance index in a proteolytic assay (e.g., AAPF assay) or cleaning assay (e.g., BMI, grass, or egg microswatch assay) that is greater than that of the protease set forth in SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:4, or SEQ ID NO:6.
• a proteolytic assay e.g., AAPF assay
• cleaning assay e.g., BMI, grass, or egg microswatch assay
• a variant according to the second aspect of the invention may comprise an amino acid sequence comprising three amino acid substitutions selected from the group consisting of X024G/R, X053G, X078N, X101N, X128A/S, and X217L/Q, wherein the variant has proteolytic activity and each amino acid position of the variant is numbered by correspondence to an amino acid position in the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2 as determined by alignment of the amino acid sequence of the variant with SEQ ID NO:2.
• a variant according to the second aspect of the invention may comprise an amino acid sequence comprising four amino acid substitutions selected from the group consisting of X024G/R, X053G, X078N, X101N, X128A/S, and X217L/Q.
• a variant according to the second aspect of the invention may comprise an amino acid sequence comprising five amino acid substitutions selected from the group consisting of X024G/R, X053G, X078N, X101N, X128A/S, and X217L/Q.
• a variant according to the second aspect of the invention may comprise an amino acid sequence comprising six amino acid substitutions selected from the group consisting of X024G/R, X053G, X078N, X101N, X128A/S, and X217L/Q.
• a variant according to the second aspect of the invention may comprise an amino acid sequence further comprising amino acid substitution X097A.
• a variant according to the second aspect of the invention may comprise an amino acid sequence comprising amino acid substitutions X024G/R+X053G+X078N+X101N+X128A/S+X217L/Q or X097A+X128A/S+X217L/Q.
• a variant according to the second aspect of the invention may comprise an amino acid sequence comprising amino acid substitutions S024G/R+S053G+S078N+S101N+G128A/S+Y217L/Q or
• a variant according to the second aspect of the invention may comprise an amino acid sequence comprising amino acid substitutions
• the amino acid sequence of a variant according to the second aspect of the invention may further comprise the substitution N109G.
• the amino acid sequence of a variant according to the second aspect of the invention may further comprise the substitution N076D.
• the amino acid sequence of a variant according to the second aspect of the invention may further comprise the substitution S033T.
• the amino acid sequence of a variant according to the second aspect of the invention may further comprise the substitution N243V.
• the amino acid sequence of a variant according to the second aspect of the invention may further comprise the substitution S248A.
• the amino acid sequence of a variant according to the second aspect of the invention may further comprise the substitution A088T.
• the amino acid sequence of a variant according to the second aspect of the invention may further comprise the substitution S063G.
• amino acid sequence of the variant according to the second aspect of the invention may further comprise two or more substitutions selected from the group consisting of N109G, N076D, S033T, N243V, S248A, A088T, and S063G.
• the amino acid sequence of a variant according to the second aspect of the invention may comprise an amino acid sequence comprising amino acid substitutions S024G+S053G+S078N+S101N+G128S+Y217Q or S024G+S053G+S078N+S101N+G128A+Y217Q and may further comprise a set of amino acid substitutions selected from the group consisting of:
• a variant according to the second aspect of the invention may comprise an amino acid sequence comprising amino acid substitutions S024G+S053G+S078N+S101N+G128A+Y217Q and may further comprise a set of amino acid substitutions selected from the group consisting of:
• a variant according to the second aspect of the invention which comprises a sequence comprising substitutions S024G+S053G+S078N+S101N+G128A+Y217Q, and which further comprises the set of substitutions S009T+N109G+A128S+K141R+N243V, has a serine (S) at position 128 because the alanine in position 128 (i.e., G128A substitution) is substituted with S (A128S substitution).
• the amino acid sequence of a variant according to the second aspect of the invention may have at least 60%, 65%, or 70% sequence identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:4, or SEQ ID NO:6.
• the amino acid sequence of a variant according to the second aspect of the invention may have at least 80% or 85% sequence identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:4, or SEQ ID NO:6.
• the amino acid sequence of a variant according to the second aspect of the invention may have at least 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, or 98% sequence identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:4, or SEQ ID NO:6.
• the patent protease according to the second aspect of the invention may be a subtilisin protease.
• the parent protease according to the second aspect of the invention may comprise an amino acid sequence having at least 60%, 70%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99% or 100% sequence identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:4, or SEQ ID NO:6.
• a variant according to the second aspect of the invention may be a protease variant having a mature form.
• a variant according to the first aspect of the invention may be a protease variant having a mature form.
• the invention also provides an isolated polypeptide (e.g., protease variant) according to the second aspect of the invention comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 80%, 85%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99% or 100% sequence identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:6 and comprising a set of amino acid substitutions selected from the group consisting of:
• variant has proteolytic activity and each amino acid position of the variant is numbered by correspondence to an amino acid position in the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2 as determined by alignment of the amino acid sequence of the variant with SEQ ID NO:2.
• polypeptide may have enhanced proteolytic activity or enhanced cleaning activity compared to the protease set forth in SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:4, or SEQ ID NO:6.
• polypeptide may have a performance index in a proteolytic assay (e.g., AAPF assay) or cleaning assay (e.g., BMI, grass, or egg microswatch assay) that is greater than that of the protease set forth in SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:4, or SEQ ID NO:6.
• a variant according to the second aspect of the invention may have enhanced proteolytic activity compared to the proteolytic activity of the BPN' protease having the sequence of SEQ ID NO:2.
• a variant according to the second aspect of the invention may have enhanced proteolytic activity compared to the proteolytic activity of the protease having the sequence of SEQ ID NO:4 or SEQ ID NO:6.
• the parent protease of a variant according to the second aspect of the invention may be a subtilisin protease, and optionally the subtilisin protease may be a Bacillus species.
• the parent subtilisin protease of a variant according to the second aspect of the invention may be selected from the group consisting of B.
• amyloliquefaciens subtilisin protease BPN' (SEQ ID NO:2), B. stearothermophilus, B. subtilis, B. licheniformis, B. lentus, B. brevis, B. stearothermophilus, B. alkalophilus, B. amyloliquefaciens, B. clausii, B. halodurans, B. megaterium, B. coagulans, B. circulans, B. lautus, B. species TS-23, B. thuringiensis, BPN'-v3 (SEQ ID N04:), and BPN'-v36 (SEQ ID NO:6).
• a parent protease according to the second aspect of the invention may comprise an amino acid sequence having at least 60%, 65%, 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 91 %, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99% or 100% sequence identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:4, or SEQ ID NO:6.
• a variant according to the second aspect of the invention may be a protease variant having a mature form.
• a parent protease according to the second aspect of the invention may be protease having a mature form.
• a variant according to the second aspect of the invention may comprise an amino acid sequence having at least 60%, 65%, 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 91 %, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99% or 100% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:6, or SEQ ID NO:4.
• the invention provides an isolated or non-naturally occurring polypeptide having protease activity, said polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 80%, 85%, 90%, 91 %, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99%, or 100% sequence identity to a polypeptide sequence selected from the group consisting of:
• a variant according to the third aspect of the invention may have enhanced proteolytic activity or enhanced cleaning activity compared to the protease set forth in SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:4, or SEQ ID NO:6.
• a variant according to the third aspect of the invention may have a performance index in a proteolytic assay (e.g., AAPF assay) or cleaning assay (e.g., BMI, grass, or egg microswatch assay) that is greater than that of the protease set forth in SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:4, or SEQ ID NO:6.
• a proteolytic assay e.g., AAPF assay
• cleaning assay e.g., BMI, grass, or egg microswatch assay
• a polypeptide according to the third aspect of the invention may comprise or consist of the amino acid sequence set forth in any of a) through cc) above or a fragment of any thereof having proteolytic activity.
• a variant or parent protease according to the third aspect of the invention may be in a mature form.
• the invention provides an isolated or non-naturally occurring polypeptide having protease activity selected from the group consisting of: (a) a polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 85%, 90%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99%, or 100% sequence identity to the polypeptide sequence of SEQ ID NO:6; (b) a polypeptide encoded by a polynucleotide that hybridizes under at least high stringency conditions with (i) the polynucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:5 or (ii) a complementary polynucleotide sequence of (i); and (c) a polypeptide encoded by a polynucleotide comprising a nucleotide sequence having at least 90%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99%, or 100% sequence identity to the polynucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO:5.
• a polypeptide according to the fourth aspect of the invention may comprise or consist of the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:6, or a fragment thereof having proteolytic activity.
• the variant according to the fourth aspect of the invention may have increased proteolytic activity and/or cleaning performance or activity compared to that of mature BPN' (SEQ ID NO:2).
• the variant according to the fourth aspect of the invention may have increased proteolytic activity and/or cleaning performance or activity compared to that of SEQ ID NO:4 or SEQ ID NO:6.
• a variant or parent protease according to the fourth aspect of the invention may be in a mature form.
• the invention provides an isolated or non-naturally occurring protease variant of a parent protease, wherein: (a) the variant comprises an amino acid sequence having no more than 25, 20, 15, or 10 alterations relative to the parent protease, wherein (i) the alterations are independently selected from an insertion, a deletion, or a substitution, and (ii) the alterations include a substitution of glycine at positions 24 and 53, a substitution of asparagine at positions 78 and 101, a substitution of alanine or serine at position 128, and a substitution of glutamine at position 217, (b) the parent protease has at least 90% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:2, (c) the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2 is used for determining position numbering; and (d) the variant has increased proteolytic activity relative to the parent protease, wherein each amino acid position is numbered by correspondence with an amino acid position of the sequence of SEQ ID NO:2.
• the amino acid sequence of a variant according to the fifth aspect of the invention may have at least 80%, 85%, 90%, 91 %, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, or 98% sequence identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:4, or SEQ ID NO:6.
• the parent protease according to the fifth aspect of the invention may have at least 80%, 85%,
• the parent protease according to the fifth aspect of the invention may be a protease having the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2.
• a variant or parent protease according to the fifth aspect of the invention may be in a mature form.
• the amino acid sequence of a variant according to the fifth aspect of the invention may further comprise the substitution N109G.
• the amino acid sequence of a variant according to the fifth aspect of the invention may further comprise the substitution N076D.
• the amino acid sequence of a variant according to the fifth aspect of the invention may further comprise the substitution S033T.
• the amino acid sequence of a variant according to the fifth aspect of the invention may further comprise the substitution N243V.
• the amino acid sequence of a variant according to the fifth aspect of the invention may further comprise the substitution S248A.
• the amino acid sequence of a variant according to the fifth aspect of the invention may further comprise the substitution A088T.
• the amino acid sequence of a variant according to the fifth aspect of the invention may further comprise the substitution S063G.
• amino acid sequence of a variant according to the fifth aspect of the invention may further comprise a set of amino acid substitutions selected from the group consisting of:
• the parent protease according to the fifth aspect of the invention may be a subtilisin protease.
• the parent protease according to the fifth aspect of the invention may be BPN' set forth in SEQ ID NO:2.
• the variant according to the fifth aspect of the invention may have increased proteolytic activity and/or cleaning performance or activity compared to that of SEQ ID NO:4 or SEQ ID NO:6.
• the invention provides an isolated or non-naturally occurring protease variant of a parent protease, wherein (a) the variant comprises an amino acid sequence (i) having at least 80%, 85%, 90%, 91 %, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, or 97% identity to the sequence of SEQ ID NO:2 and (ii) comprising a substitution of glycine at positions 24 and 53, a substitution of asparagine at positions 78 and 101, a substitution of alanine or serine at position 128, and a substitution of glutamine at position 217; (b) the parent protease has at least 80%, 85%, 90%, 91 %, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99%, or 100% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:2; (c) each amino acid position of the variant is numbered by correspondence with an amino acid position of the sequence of SEQ ID NO:2; and (d) the variant has increased prote
• the parent protase according to the sixth aspect of the invention may be a subtilisin protease.
• the parent protease according to the sixth aspect of the invention may be a protease having the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2.
• the variant according to the sixth aspect of the invention may have increased proteolytic activity and/or cleaning activity compared to the proteolytic activity and/or cleaning activity, respectively, of the parent protease.
• the amino acid sequence of a variant according to the sixth aspect of the invention may further comprise the substitution N109G.
• the amino acid sequence of a variant according to the sixth aspect of the invention may further comprise the substitution N076D.
• the amino acid sequence of a variant according to the sixth aspect of the invention may further comprise the substitution S033T.
• the amino acid sequence of a variant according to the sixth aspect of the invention may further comprise the substitution N243V.
• the amino acid sequence of a variant according to the sixth aspect of the invention may further comprise the substitution S248A.
• the amino acid sequence of a variant according to the sixth aspect of the invention may further comprise the substitution A088T.
• the amino acid sequence of a variant according to the sixth aspect of the invention may further comprise the substitution S063G.
• amino acid sequence of a variant according to the sixth aspect of the invention may further comprise a set of amino acid substitutions selected from the group consisting of:
• the variant according to the sixth aspect of the invention may have increased proteolytic activity and/or cleaning performance or activity compared to that of SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:4, or SEQ ID NO:6.
• a variant according to the sixth aspect of the invention may have a performance index in a proteolytic assay (e.g., AAPF assay) or cleaning assay (e.g., BMI, grass, or egg microswatch assay) that is greater than that of the protease set forth in SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:4, or SEQ ID NO:6.
• a variant or parent protease according to the sixth aspect of the invention may be in a mature form.
• the invention provides an isolated or non-naturally occurring protease variant of BPN' subtilisin protease having the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO:2, said protease variant selected from the group consisting of:
• a protease variant comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 80%, 85%, 90%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2, said variant having increased proteolytic activity and/or increased cleaning activity compared to the protease of SEQ ID NO:2 and/or SEQ ID NO:4, wherein amino acid positions of the variant are numbered by correspondence with the sequence of SEQ ID NO:2 and wherein said variant comprises at least one set of amino acid substitution(s) relative to SEQ ID NO:2 selected from groups (i) through (x):
• G128A-S 183T-Y217Q-T244N S063T-S078N-G097A-S 101A-G128A-Y217Q, and S063T-S078N- G097 A-S 101 A-G 128 A-Y217Q-T244I;
• a protease variant comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 80%, 85%, 90%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:6, said variant having increased proteolytic activity and/or increased cleaning activity compared to SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:4 and/or SEQ ID NO:6, wherein amino acid positions of the variant are numbered by correspondence with the sequence of SEQ ID NO:2 and wherein said variant comprises at least one set of amino acid substitution(s) relative to SEQ ID NO:6 selected from groups (i) through (xv):
• (iii) at least one set of amino acid substitutions relative to SEQ ID NO:6 selected from the group consisting of A088T-L257G, A116T-A128S, N061S-N109G-A128S-N243V-S260P, S009T- N109G-A128S-K141R-N243V, S009T-S018T-Y021N-N109G-A128S-K141R, and S 162G-K256R;
• At least one set of amino acid substitution(s) relative to SEQ ID NO:6 selected from the group consisting of A116T, A088T-N243V, G024E-A116T, K043Y, N076D-A116T, N218S-S248N, S033T-N243V, S033T-S063G, S248N-L257G, A001E-S249A, A088T-A116T, A088T-A128S, A088T- G131H, A088T-L257G, A088T-N109G, A088T-S248N, A088T-S249A, A116T-N243V, A116T-T158S, A128S, A128S-K256R, A128S-L257G, A128S-N243V, A128S-S248N, A128S-T158S, G024E-A
• At least one set of amino acid substitution(s) relative to SEQ ID NO:6 selected from the group consisting of T158S-L257G, K256R, L257G, S033T-N109G, S162G-K256R, S 162G-L257G, G024E-K256R, G024E-L257G, G024E-S033T, N109G-A116T, N218S-L257G, S033T-A088T, S033T- A116T, S033T-N243V, S033T-Q103H, S162G-N218S, S 162G-N243V, T158S, T158S-N218S, T158S- N243V, A088T, A088T-G169A, A088T-K256R, A088T-L257G, A088T-S162G, A088T-T158S, A116T-
• SEQ ID NO:6 at least one set of amino acid substitutions relative to SEQ ID NO:6 selected from the group consisting of S033T-N076D-A128S-N218S, A001E-S033T-N109G-N218S, S033T-N218S, S033T-S063G-Q103H-N109Q-A128S-G131H-G169A-N243V, A128S-G169A, S033T-S063G-Q103H- N109Q-A128S-G131H-G169A-N243P, S018T-Y021N-S033T-N109G-A128S-N243V-S248N-K256R, S033T-A128S-G131H-N243P, P040E-N109G-A128S-G131H, S033T-A128S, S033T-N109G-A128S-
• (viii) at least one set of amino acid substitution(s) relative to SEQ ID NO:6 selected from the group consisting of A088T-A116T-N243V-K256R-L257G, A088T-A116T-N243V-L257G, A088T- T158S-N218S-K256R, A088T-T158S-N218S-N243V-L257G, A088T-A116T-T158S-N218S-N243V- K256R-L257G, A088T-N109G-A116T-G131H-A153S-N218S-S248N-L257G, A088T-N109G-A116T- T158S-S248N-K256R-L257G, A088T-N109G-T158S-L257G, Al 14S-A116T-N218S-N243V-S248N- K256R-L
• (ix) at least one set of amino acid substitution(s) relative to SEQ ID NO:6 selected from the group consisting of A088T-N109G-A116T-T158S-N243V-L257G, A116T-N218S-N243V-L257G- N269S, A088T-A116T-K256R, A088T-G131H-K256R, A088T-N109G-A116T-T158S-S248N-K256R- L257G, A088T-N109G-T158S-L257G, A088T-A116T-G131H-T158S-N218S-N243V-K256R-A273T, A088T-A116T-N243V-L257G, A088T-A116T-S248N-K256R-L257G, A088T-A116T-T158S-N243V- L257G, A088
• (xi) at least one set of amino acid substitutions selected relative to SEQ ID NO:6 from the group consisting of I031V-S038W, P014T-S037T, S018F-S162L, S018P-D120N, and S162L-D181H;
• (xii) at least one set of amino acid substitutions relative to SEQ ID NO:6 selected from the group consisting of Y21H-D259G, S183T-S249R, N61D-Q206R, Y262N-Q275R, K043R-N076S, A133V-D259N, and I079V-Q217H;
• (xiii) at least one set of amino acid substitutions relative to SEQ ID NO:6 selected from the group consisting of N61P-S63G-N109Q-A128S-S224A-N243V, A88T-N109G-A114S-A116T-A128S- N243V, A88T-N109G-A114S-A116T-A128S-S183L-S224A-N243V, N109G-A128S-S183V, N109G- A128S-N243V-K256R, N109M-A128S-S224A, A88T-N109S-A116T-A128S-S224A-N243V, N109Q- A128S-S224A-N243V, A88T-N109M-A116T-A128S-S224A-N243V, N109S-A128S-S224A-N243V, A88T-N109G-A116T-N243
• (xiv) at least one set of amino acid substitutions relative to SEQ ID NO:6 selected from the group consisting of S33T-T55P-N61P-S63G-A88T-N109G-A116T-A128S-G131H-S224A-N243V, S33T-N61G-S63G-N109G-A128S-N218S-N243V, S33T-S63G-N109G-A128S-N218S-N243V, N61P- S63G-N109Q-A128S-G131H-G169A-S224A-N243V-S249Q, S33T-N61G-A88T-N109G-A116T- A128S-N218S-N243V, S33T-N109G-A128S-N218S-N243V, S33T-A128S-N218S, A1G-N61P-S63G- N109Q-
• (xv) at least one set of amino acid substitutions relative to SEQ ID NO:6 selected from the group consisting of G24S-G53S-N78S-G97A-N101S-A128S, I31L-S33T-S63G-N109G-A128S-G169A- N218S-N243V, A1G-I31L-S33T-T55P-N61P-S63G-A88T-N109G-A116T-A128S-G131H-G169A-
• the invention provides an isolated or non-naturally occurring protease variant of a BPN' subtilisin protease having the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2, said variant having proteolytic activity and comprising at least one set of amino acid substitution(s) selected from the group consisting of: S182E, N109I, N109D-Y217L-S248R, N109D-S188R-Y217L, S87D-Y217L-S248R, S87R-N109D-Y217L-S248R, S87R-N109D-S188D-Y217L-S248R, G128A-Y217Q, I111V-M124V, M124V-Y217Q, N62Q-G97A, S89Y-M124V, V68A, V68A-A92G, V68A-G97A, V68A-I11 IV, V68A- S89Y, V68A-V227T, V68
• G97A-G128A-Y217Q-T55P-V203Y G97A-G128A-Y217Q-S87G-A88V-S89A-P129Q-S130G-G131S
• G97A-G128A-Y217Q-S24G-N25G-S53G-T55P-N61P-S78N-S87T-A88L-S89G G97A-G128A-Y217Q- II 11V-P129Q-S130G-G131S
• G97A-G128A-Y217Q-I111 V-A273S G97A-G128A-Y217Q-N61P-S87T- A88L-S89G
• G97A-G128A-Y217Q-T22N-S24A-N61P-S63H G97A-G128A-Y217Q
• a variant according to the eighth aspect of the invention may have increased proteolytic activity and/or increased cleaning activity compared to the protease having the sequence of SEQ ID NO:2 and/or SEQ ID NO:4 and may be in a mature form.
• a variant according to the eighth aspect of the invention may comprise an amino acid sequence having at least 80%, 85%, 90%, 91 %, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% identity to SEQ ID NO:2 or SEQ ID NO:4, wherein the variant has proteolytic activity and optionally has enhanced proteolytic activity and/or enhanced cleaning activity compared to the protease having the sequence of SEQ ID NO:2 or SEQ ID NO:4.
• a variant according to the eighth aspect of the invention may comprise three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 or 15 amino acid substitutions at positions selected from the group of consisting of positions 24, 25, 40, 52, 53, 55, 58, 59, 61, 62, 63, 68, 78, 86, 87, 88, 89, 92, 96, 97, 100, 101, 103, 104, 106, 111, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 123, 124, 125, 126, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 144, 145, 159, 161, 162, 167, 194, 203, 206, 213, 217, 227, 232, 239, 240, 242, 265, 267, and 275.
• a variant according to the eighth aspect may comprise a total of three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 or 15 amino acid substitutions selected from groups (a) and (b): (a) charged amino acid substitutions selected from the group consisting of N61E, A144K, P129E , P239R, P40E, Q103E, Q206E, Q7275E, S 145D, S 159K, S 162K, S24R, S63H, S87D and T242R; and (b) neutral amino acid substitutions selected from the group consisting of A114G, A116N, A133V, A134T, A232T, A88V, A92G, F58G, G100T, G128A, G131S, G97A, 111 IV, II 15V, K213L, K265N, L126A, L267V, L96T, M124V, N117S, N118G, N123G, N240K, N25G, N61P
• the invention provides an isolated or non-naturally occurring protease variant selected from the group of:
• a protease variant having proteolytic activity comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 60%, 70%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 95%, 96%, 97%, or 98% identity to SEQ ID NO:2, and comprising at least one set of amino acid substitution(s) relative to SEQ ID NO:2 selected from groups (i) through (vii):
• a protease variant having proteolytic activity comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 60%, 70%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:6 and comprising at least one set of amino acid substitution(s) relative to SEQ ID NO:6 selected from groups (i) through (xii):
• G024E-S204E-Q206D A001E-G131H-G169A-N243V, A001E-K043Y, A001E-N076D, A001E- N076D-N109G-A128S, A001E-N218S, A001E-N243V, A001E-Q103H, A001E-Q206D, A001E-S033T, A001E-S033T-N109G-N218S, A001E-S 162G, A116T-Q206D, A128S-N243V-S248N-K256R, A128S- Q206D, G024E-Q206D, G131H-Q206D, K043Y-G131H, K043Y-Q103H, K043Y-Q206D, K043Y- S 162G, N061S-N109G-A128S-N243V-S260P, N076D-A128S,
• a variant according to the ninth aspect of the invention may have enhanced proteolytic activity and/or enhanced cleaning activity compared to the protease set forth in SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:4, or SEQ ID NO:6, respectively.
• a variant according to the ninth aspect of the invention may have a performance index in a proteolytic assay (e.g., AAPF assay) or cleaning assay (e.g., BMI, grass, or egg microswatch assay) that is greater than that of the protease set forth in SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:4, or SEQ ID NO:6.
• a variant according to the ninth aspect of the invention may be a protease variant of BPN' subtilisin protease (SEQ ID NO:2).
• the invention provides an isolated or non-naturally occurring cold water protease that is a variant of a parent protease, said cold water protease comprising a total of three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11 , 12, 13, 14 or 15 mutations selected from groups (a) and (b) below, wherein at least one mutation is selected from group (a):
• the parent protease according to the twenty-first aspect of the invention may comprise an amino acid sequence having at least 80%, 85%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99%, or 100% identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2 and the variant according to the twenty-first aspect of the invention, may comprise a total of three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 or 15 mutations selected from groups (a) and (b) below, wherein at least one mutation is selected from group (a): (a) AIE/T, S9/T, P14L, A15L, L16C, H17T, S18L/T, Q19K, G20A, Y21N/T, T22L, G23E, S33T, K43Y, N76D, G102A, N109A/S/G, A137V, K141R, T158S, G169A, S204E, P210S, N218S
• a variant and parent protease according to the second aspect of the invention may be in a mature form.
• a variant according to the twenty-first aspect of the invention may have a total net charge of -1 , 0 or +1 relative to the BPN' wild-type.
• the variant may be a subtilisin protease variant having improved wash performance or cleaning performance in a detergent as compared to that of the parent subtilisin protease, which may be a subtilisin protease.
• the polypeptide may have improved wash performance or cleaning performance in a detergent as compared to that of the protease of SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:4 or SEQ ID NO:6. Exemplary detergents for such aspects are shown in the Part I Examples and Part II Examples.
• a protease variant according to the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, or twenty-first aspect of the invention may be a cold water protease.
• a protease variant according to the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, or twenty-first aspect of the invention may be a cold water protease having: (i) a performance index (PI) greater than 1, at least 1.1, at least 1.2, at least 1.3, at least 1.4, at least 1.5, at least 1.6, at least 1.7, at least 1.8, at least 1.9, at least 2, from at least 1 to about 10, from at least 1 to about 8, or from at least 1 to about 5 on BMI at pH 8 and 60°F when compared to an enzyme having the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:4, as defined in the Test Method set forth in Part I Example 1 ; or (ii) a performance index of at least 1, at least 1.1 , at least 1.2, at least 1.3, at least PI
• the protease variant polypeptides of the invention have enzymatic activities (e.g., proteolytic activities) and thus are useful in cleaning applications, including but not limited to, methods for cleaning dishware items, tableware items, fabrics, and items having hard surfaces (e.g., the hard surface of a table, table top, wall, furniture item, floor, ceiling, etc.).
• enzymatic activity e.g., protease activity
• a protease variant polypeptide of the invention can be determined readily using procedures well known to those of ordinary skill in the art.
• protease variants of the invention in removing stains (e.g., a proteinaceous stain), cleaning hard surfaces, or cleaning laundry, dishware or tableware item(s) can be readily determined using procedures well known in the art and/or by using procedures set forth in the Part I Examples and/or Part II Examples.
• a polypeptide of the invention can be subject to various changes, such as one or more amino acid insertions, deletions, and/or substitutions, either conservative or non-conservative, including where such changes do not substantially alter the enzymatic activity of the polypeptide.
• a nucleic acid of the invention can also be subject to various changes, such as one or more substitutions of one or more nucleic acids in one or more codons such that a particular codon encodes the same or a different amino acid, resulting in either a silent variation (e.g., mutation in a nucleotide sequence results in a silent mutation in the amino acid sequence, for example when the encoded amino acid is not altered by the nucleic acid mutation) or non-silent variation, one or more deletions of one or more nucleic acids (or codons) in the sequence, one or more additions or insertions of one or more nucleic acids (or codons) in the sequence, and/or cleavage of or one or more truncations of one
• a nucleic acid of the invention can also be modified to include one or more codons that provide for optimum expression in an expression system (e.g., bacterial expression system), while, if desired, said one or more codons still encode the same amino acid(s).
• an expression system e.g., bacterial expression system
• the present invention includes a genus of polypeptides comprising protease variant polypeptides having the desired enzymatic activity (e.g., protease activity or cleaning performance activity) which comprise sequences having the amino acid substitutions described herein and also which comprise one or more additional amino acid substitutions, such as conservative and non-conservative substitutions, wherein the polypeptide exhibits, maintains, or approximately maintains the desired enzymatic activity (e.g., protease activity or subtilisin activity, as reflected in the cleaning activity or performance of the protease variant).
• Amino acid substitutions in accordance with the invention may include, but are not limited to, one or more non-conservative substitutions and/or one or more conservative amino acid substitutions.
• a conservative amino acid residue substitution typically involves exchanging a member within one functional class of amino acid residues for a residue that belongs to the same functional class (identical amino acid residues are considered functionally homologous or conserved in calculating percent functional homology).
• a conservative amino acid substitution typically involves the substitution of an amino acid in an amino acid sequence with a functionally similar amino acid. For example, alanine, glycine, serine, and threonine are functionally similar and thus may serve as conservative amino acid substitutions for one another. Aspartic acid and glutamic acid may serve as conservative substitutions for one another. Asparagine and glutamine may serve as conservative substitutions for one another. Arginine, lysine, and histidine may serve as conservative substitutions for one another. Isoleucine, leucine, methionine, and valine may serve as conservative substitutions for one another. Phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan may serve as conservative substitutions for one another.
• amino acids can be grouped by similar function or chemical structure or composition (e.g., acidic, basic, aliphatic, aromatic, sulfur-containing).
• an aliphatic grouping may comprise: Glycine (G), Alanine (A), Valine (V), Leucine (L), Isoleucine (I).
• Other groups containing amino acids that are considered conservative substitutions for one another include: aromatic: Phenylalanine (F), Tyrosine (Y),
• the invention includes an isolated or recombinant protease variant polypeptide (e.g., subtilisin variant) having proteolytic activity, said protease variant polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence having at least about 80%, 85%, 90%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99%, or 99.5% sequence identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2.
• protease variant polypeptide e.g., subtilisin variant
• a conservative substitution of one amino acid for another in a protease variant of the invention is not expected to alter significantly the enzymatic activity or cleaning performance activity of the protease variant.
• Enzymatic activity or cleaning performance activity of the resultant protease can be readily determined using the standard assays and the assays described herein.
• Conservatively substituted variations of a polypeptide sequence of the invention include substitutions of a small percentage, sometimes less than about 25%, 20%, 15%, 14%, 13%, 12%, 11 %, 10%, 9%, 8%, 7%, or 6% of the amino acids of the polypeptide sequence, or less than about 5%, 4%, 3%, 2%, or 1 %, of the amino acids of the polypeptide sequence, with a conservative amino acid.
• polypeptides of the invention may have cleaning abilities that may be compared to known proteases, including known subtilisins.
• known subtilisin proteases include, but are not limited to, for example, B. lentus subtilisin GG36, B. amyloliquefaciens subtilisin BPN', B. amyloliquefaciens subtilisin BPN'-Y217L, and B. clausii PB92.
• Numerous polypeptides of the invention including protease variants, such as, e.g., subtilisin protease variants described and set forth throughout the specification, including, but not limited to, in the Examples.
• protease variants of the invention including, e.g., but not limited to, BPN' protease variants.
• Part II Examples describe additional protease variants of the invention, including, e.g., but not limited to, GG36 protease variants.
• the present invention provides protease variants, including serine protease variants, having one or more substitutions as compared to a reference serine protease.
• the present invention provides cold water proteases.
• the present invention provides compositions comprising one or more such protease variants, e.g., serine protease variants.
• a composition may comprise at least one such protease variant of the invention and an adjunct ingredient, as described elsewhere herein.
• the present invention provides cleaning compositions comprising at least one of these protease variants, e.g., serine protease variants.
• a cleaning composition may be a detergent composition. The trend in cleaning is to use lower wash temperatures to save energy. Enzymes have lower activity at lower temperatures resulting in reduced cleaning performance.
• the present invention provides cleaning compositions comprising at least one serine protease variant described herein, such as a subtilisin protease variant.
• the subtilisin protease variant may be a BPN' protease variant.
• the invention includes a composition comprising a BPN' protease variant and a GG36 protease variant.
• Some protease variants, including, but not limited to, e.g., subtilisin variants of the invention, are cold water proteases.
• the cleaning composition may be a laundry detergent.
• the laundry detergent may be a detergent having a pH between 3 and 11 (e.g., between pH 4, pH 5, pH 6, pH 7, pH 7.5, pH 8, pH 9, pH 10, pH 10.5, etc.) cold water detergent, a low pH detergent (e.g., pH 3-6), neutral pH detergent (e.g., pH 6.5-7.5), alkaline pH detergent (e.g., pH 9-11) or a compact detergent.
• a detergent may include phosphate or be without phosphate.
• the cleaning composition may be a dishwashing detergent.
• the dishwashing detergent is a phosphate-free detergent, while in another aspect, the dishwashing detergent is a phosphate-containing detergent.
• the cleaning composition of the invention further comprises at least one additional enzyme, which may optionally be selected from the group of a neutral metalloprotease, lipase, cutinase, amylase, carbohydrase, cellulase, pectinase, mannanase, arabinase, galactanase, xylanase, perhydrolase, oxidase, and peroxidase.
• additional enzyme may optionally be selected from the group of a neutral metalloprotease, lipase, cutinase, amylase, carbohydrase, cellulase, pectinase, mannanase, arabinase, galactanase, xylanase, perhydrolase, oxidase, and peroxidase.
• additional enzyme which may optionally be selected from the group of a neutral metalloprotease, lipase, cutinase, amylase,
• a "set of amino acid substitutions" or “set of substitutions” may refer to a set of multiple amino acid substitutions (i.e., G097A+G128A+Y217Q) or set of a single amino acid substitution (i.e., Y217Q).
• a BPN' variant comprising the BPN' sequence (SEQ ID NO:2) comprising at least one set of amino acid substitutions selected from the group consisting of G097A-G128A-Y217Q and Y217Q indicates the BPN' variant comprises an amino acid sequence comprising BPN' -G097A-G128A-Y217Q or BPN' -Y217Q.
• the amino acid sequence of the mature BPN' -v3 subtilisin protease variant which is set forth in SEQ ID NO:4, can be represented as BPN' -G097A-G128A-Y217Q, which means the BPN' amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2 with the three substitutions G097A,G128A, and Y217Q.
• each dash (-) is equivalent to using a plus sign (+).
• BPN' -G097A-G128A-Y217Q can be written alternatively as BPN'+G097A+G128A+Y217Q.
• the amino acid sequence of the mature BPN'-v36 subtilisin protease variant which is set forth in SEQ ID NO:6, can be written as BPN'-S24G-S53G- S78N-S 101N-G128A-Y217Q or BPN'+S24G+S53G+S78N+S101N+G128A+Y217Q.
• BPN' variants of the invention may be depicted using these formats.
• subtilisin variants wherein each such variant is a mature form having proteolytic activity and comprises the BPN'-v3 amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO:4) comprising at least one set of amino acid substitutions selected from the group consisting of S87T-A88L- S89G, N61P-S63H, S87G-A88V-S89A, P86S-S87G-A88V, Q59S-N61P, S24G-N25G, N61P-N62S, P129Q-S130G-G131S, L75S-N76Y, V203Y, T55P, A88V-L90I, G211R-N212S-K213V, G23A-S24G- N25G, T22N-S24A, S24R, A98S, T158G-S 159G, Q59E-N61P, and A98E, and wherein the amino acid positions are numbered by correspondence with the amino acid sequence of B. amyl
• the BPN'-v3 amino acid sequence which is set forth as SEQ ID NO:4, may be written as BPN' -G97A-G128A-Y217Q.
• the invention includes a protease variant having proteolytic activity, wherein said variant comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:4 having an amino acid substitution A128S in SEQ ID NO:4.
• the invention includes the amino acid sequence BPN-G97A- G128A-Y217Q.
• polypeptide variants of the invention may be described as a variant of a reference polypeptide comprising one or more particular amino acid substitutions at one or more specified positions in the reference polypeptide sequence, respectively.
• subtilisin variants wherein each such variant is a mature form having proteolytic activity and comprises the BPN'-v3 amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO:4) comprising at least one set of amino acid substitutions selected from the group consisting of P86S-S87G- A88V-A116N-N117S-N118G, S24G-N25G-N61P-S 101N, S24G-N25G-S53G-T55P-S87T-A88L-S89G- S 101N-V203Y, N61P-S78N-S 101N-V203Y, T55P-N61P-S78N-S 101N-V203Y, S53G-T55P-N61P- S78N-S87T-A88L-S89G-S 101N, V203Y-L267V, S24G-N25G-T55P-S101N, A134T-L267V, S24G- N25G-S53G-T55V, S24G
• the present invention also provides subtilisin variants, wherein the variant is a mature form having proteolytic activity and comprises the BPN' -v3 amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO:4) comprising at least one set of amino acid substitutions selected from the group consisting of P40E-S78N-S87D- Y217L, P40E-Y217L, T22V-S78N-Q206E-K213N-Y217L, T22V-S78N-K213N-Y217L, S87D-Y217L, S78N-Y217L, K213N-Y217L, Q206E-Y217L, and T22V-Y217L, and wherein the amino acid positions are numbered by correspondence with the amino acid sequence of B. amyloliquefaciens subtilisin BPN' of SEQ ID NO:2.
• the present invention also provides subtilisin variants, wherein each such variant is a mature form having proteolytic activity and the variant comprises the BPN'-v3 amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO:4) comprising at least one set of amino acid substitutions selected from the group consisting of S87D-N76D-S78N, P40E-S78N-S87D, P40E-S87D, S78N-P40E, S87D-N76D, P40E, S78N-S87D, S87D, and S78N, and wherein the amino acid positions are numbered by correspondence with the amino acid sequence of B. amyloliquefaciens subtilisin BPN' of SEQ ID NO:2.
• the substitutions confer improved enzyme stability.
• subtilisin variants wherein each such variant is a mature form having proteolytic activity and comprises the BPN'-v3 amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO:4) comprising at least one set of amino acid substitutions selected from the group consisting of S 101N, A137V, N61P, S 130P, Q103N, S63T, G102A, N109D-S248R, S87R, S188D, S87D-S248R, S188D- S248R, S248D, N109D-S188D-S248R, N109D, S87R-S248R, N109D-S 188R, N76D, S87D-N109D- S 188D-S248R, S87R-N109D-S 188D-S248R, S87R-S 188R-S248R, A187D, N109D-S248D, S87R- N109R-S188R-S248R, F189D, G
• subtilisin variants wherein each such variant is a mature form having proteolytic activity and comprises the BPN'-v3 amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO:4) comprising at least one set of amino acid substitutions selected from S78N-L267V, S78N-S161P, S78N- II 15V, S78N-A273S, S78N-G211T , S78N, S78N-I111V, S78N-V147L, S78N-I108V, S78N-S89Y, S78N-A138T, S78N-P172V, S78N-Q59G, P129T-V147Q-S 159D-S 161P-S 183T-Q185T-G211A-S224A, Q059V-I108V-V147Q-G211A-N252Q, S78N-Y167A, S78N-A92G, S78N-P129L, N061A-S087E- M124
• subtilisin variants wherein each such variant is a mature form having proteolytic activity and comprises an amino acid sequence comprising at least one set of amino acid substitutions selected from the group consisting of G97A-G128S-Y217Q-S24G-N25G-N61P- S 101N, G97A-G128S-Y217Q-S53G-N61P-S 101N-V203Y, G97A-G128S-Y217Q-S24G-N25G-S53G- T55P-N61P-S 101N-V203Y, G97A-G128A-Y217Q-S24G-N25G-S53G-N61P-S 101N-V203Y, P52L- V68A-G97A-I111V, I111V-M124V-Y167A-Y217Q, Y104N-G128A-Y217Q, M124V-Y167A-Y217Q, I111V-
• subtilisin variants wherein each such variant is a mature form having proteolytic activity and comprises a BPN' amino acid sequence comprising at least one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven or more substitutions selected from S182E, N109I, N117H, K237D, L257Q, P225N, S105H, S236I, L235H, S249E, N76E, S 145N, N243D, R247N, E195N, A98K, S182N, S 161H, G83H, G131D, T71C, K136Q, P40D, A187H, L250K, S9I, N76M, S132D, Q19F, E112H, S249P, S53D, V68E, D41I, K43H, V4H, A13Y, N62P, L196E, and V44D, and wherein the positions are numbered by correspondence with the amino acid residue
• the present invention also provides dishwashing compositions comprising the subtilisin variant(s), and fabric cleaning compositions comprising the subtilisin variant(s).
• the dishwashing and fabric cleaning compositions further comprise at least one additional enzyme.
• the additional enzyme is selected from: a protease (e.g., a neutral metalloprotease, a wild type serine protease, or a second variant serine protease) a lipase, a cutinase, an amylase, a carbohydrase, a cellulase, a pectinase, a mannanase, an arabinase, a galactanase, a xylanase, a perhydrolase, an oxidase, and a peroxidase.
• a protease e.g., a neutral metalloprotease, a wild type serine protease, or a second variant serine proteas
• the present invention provides dishwashing methods, comprising the steps of: providing i) the dishwashing composition comprising the subtilisin variant, and ii) dishware in need of cleaning; and contacting the dishware with the dishwashing composition under conditions effective to provide cleaning of the dishware.
• the present invention provides fabric cleaning methods, comprising the steps of: providing i) the fabric cleaning composition comprising the subtilisin variant, and ii) laundry in need of cleaning; and contacting the laundry with the fabric cleaning composition under conditions effective to provide cleaning of the laundry.
• the present invention provides an isolated nucleic acid encoding the variant, an expression vector comprising the isolated nucleic acid in operable combination with a promoter, and/or host cells comprising the expression vector are provided.
• the present invention also provides cleaning compositions comprising the subtilisin variants provided herein.
• the cleaning compositions comprise a liquid, gel, tablet, powder and/or granule detergent.
• the cleaning compositions are selected from laundry detergents and dish detergents.
• the cleaning compositions comprise laundry detergents.
• the cleaning compositions are heavy duty detergents.
• the cleaning compositions comprise dish detergents selected from hand dishwashing and automatic dishwashing detergents.
• the cleaning compositions provided herein further comprise at least one bleaching agent.
• the cleaning compositions provided herein are phosphate-free, while in some alternative aspects, the cleaning compositions provided herein are phosphate-containing detergents.
• the cleaning compositions provided herein are cold water detergents.
• the cleaning compositions provided herein further comprise at least one additional enzyme.
• the cleaning compositions comprise at least one additional enzyme selected from the group consisting of a hemicellulase, cellulase, peroxidase, protease, metalloprotease, xylanase, lipase, phospholipase, esterase, perhydrolase, cutinase, pectinase, pectate lyase, mannanase, keratinase, reductase, oxidase,
• phenoloxidase lipoxygenase, ligninase, pullulanase, tannase, pentosanase, malanase, ⁇ -glucanase, arabinosidase, hyaluronidase, chondroitinase, laccase, and amylase; or mixtures of any thereof.
• the present invention also provides methods for cleaning, comprising providing an item to be cleaned and a composition comprising at least one cleaning composition provided herein, and contacting them with the composition, under conditions effective to provide cleaning of the item.
• the methods further comprise the step of rinsing the item after contacting the item with the cleaning composition.
• the item to be cleaned comprises dishware.
• the item to be cleaned comprises fabric.
• any of the above mutations, deletions, insertions or combinations thereof can be applied to either the enzyme of SEQ ID NO:2 containing the mutation Y217L or the enzyme of SEQ ID NO:2 containing the mutations G97A-G128A-Y217Q.
• the present invention provides a suitable cold water protease derived from a subtilisin, particularly subtilisin BPN' (SEQ ID NO:2) (i.e., a BPN' subtilisin variant).
• a cold water protease one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven or more of the following amino acid substitutions relative to SEQ ID NO:2: Q002W, P005K, P005L, P005Y, G007T, V008G, V008K, V008P, 1011G, 1011H, 101 IS, K012L, A013M, L016W, G023S, V026H, V026W, V026Y, K027P, V028Q, V028S, V028T, A029C, A029D, A029S, A029T, A029V, V030D, V030E, V030G, V
• the invention provides suitable cold water proteases, including subtilisin variants, particularly variant of mature BPN' (SEQ ID NO:2), comprising one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven or more of the following sets of mutations relative to SEQ ID NO:2:
• the invention provides suitable cold water proteases, including subtilisin variants, particularly variants of mature BPN' (SEQ ID NO:2) comprise one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven or more of the following sets of mutations relative to SEQ ID NO:2: S87T- A88L-S89G-G97A-G128A-Y217Q, N61P-S63H-G97A-G128A-Y217Q, S87G-A88V-S89A-G97A- G128A-Y217Q, P86S-S87G-A88V-G97A-G128A-Y217Q, Q59S-N61P-G97A-G128A-Y217Q, S24G- N25G-G97 A-G 128 A- Y217Q, N61 P-N62S-G97 A-G 128 A- Y217Q, G97 A-G 128 A-P
• the cold water protease is variant of subtilisin BPN' having SEQ ID NO:2, wherein the variant comprises three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, or more mutations selected from amino acid positions 24, 25, 40, 52, 53, 55, 58, 59, 61, 62, 63, 68, 78, 86, 87, 88, 89, 92, 96, 97, 100, 101, 103, 104, 106, 111, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 123, 124, 125, 126, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 144, 145, 159, 161, 162, 167, 194, 203, 206, 213, 217, 227, 232, 239, 240, 242, 265, 267, and 275, wherein the positions of the variant sequence are numbered by correspondence to positions in the amino acid sequence of
• the cold water protease is variant of subtilisin BPN' comprising SEQ ID NO:2 (i.e., a BPN' subtilisin variant), wherein the variant comprises a total of three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen or more mutations selected from groups (a) and (b): (a) charged mutations selected from the group consisting of N61E, A144K, P129E, P239R, P40E, Q103E, Q206E, Q7275E, S145D, S159K, S162K, S24R, S63H, S87D and T242R; and (b) neutral mutations selected from the group consisting of Al 14G, Al 16N, A133V, A134T, A232T, A88V, A92G, F58G, G100T, G128A, G131S, G97A, I111V, I115V, K213L, K265N, L126A
• the invention provides isolated, non-naturally occurring, or recombinant nucleic acids (also referred to herein as “polynucleotides”), which may be collectively referred to as “nucleic acids of the invention” or “polynucleotides of the invention", which encode polypeptides (e.g., protease variants) of the invention.
• Nucleic acids of the invention including all described below, are useful in recombinant production (e.g., expression) of polypeptides of the invention, typically through expression of a plasmid expression vector comprising a sequence encoding the polypeptide of interest or fragment thereof.
• polypeptides include protease variant polypeptides, including subtilisin variant polypeptides having enzymatic activity (e.g., proteolytic activity) which are useful in cleaning applications and cleaning compositions for cleaning an item or a surface (e.g., surface of an item) in need of cleaning.
• protease variant polypeptides including subtilisin variant polypeptides having enzymatic activity (e.g., proteolytic activity) which are useful in cleaning applications and cleaning compositions for cleaning an item or a surface (e.g., surface of an item) in need of cleaning.
• the invention includes an isolated, recombinant, substantially pure, or non-naturally occurring nucleic acid comprising a polynucleotide sequence encoding any protein, polypeptide, or protease variant (including any fusion protein, etc.) of the invention described above in the section entitled "Polypeptides of the Invention" and elsewhere herein, including, but not limited, to, the Examples, including Part I Examples and Part II Examples, or a complementary polynucleotide sequence thereof.
• the invention also provides an isolated, recombinant, substantially pure, or non-naturally-occurring nucleic acid comprising a polynucleotide sequence encoding a combination of two or more of any polypeptides, proteins, or protease variants (including any fusion protein) of the invention described above and elsewhere herein, including, but not limited, to, the Examples, including Part I Examples and Part II Examples.
• the invention provides an isolated, non-naturally occurring, or recombinant nucleic acid comprising a polynucleotide sequence encoding a variant (or polypeptide as in the third aspect) of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, or ninth aspect of the invention, or a complementary polynucleotide sequence thereof.
• the invention provides an isolated, non-naturally-occurring, or recombinant nucleic acid comprising a polynucleotide sequence having at least 60%, 70%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 91 %, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99% or 100% sequence identity to the polynucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:3 or SEQ ID NO:5, or a complementary polynucleotide sequence thereof.
• the present invention further provides nucleic acid encoding a protease variant comprising an amino acid sequence which differs from the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2, and wherein the total net charge of the protease variant is +1, +2, +3, +4, +5, 0, -1, -2, -3, -4, or -5 relative to the total net charge of the B.
• amyloliquefaciens BPN' subtilisin protease and wherein amino acid positions of the protease variant are numbered according to the numbering of corresponding amino acid positions in the amino acid sequence of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens subtilisin BPN' shown in SEQ ID NO:2 as determined by alignment of the protease variant amino acid sequence with the Bacillus amyloliquefaciens subtilisin BPN' amino acid sequence.
• the present invention provides nucleic acids encoding a subtilisin variant of B.
• BPN' subtilisin protease comprises the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO:2
• the protease variant comprises an amino acid sequence which differs from the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2 in no more than two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, or 25 mutations at amino acid positions selected from amino acid positions 1-275, wherein the amino acid positions of the subtilisin variant are numbered by correspondence with the amino acid sequence of B.
• amyloliquefaciens subtilisin BPN' set forth as SEQ ID NO:2, wherein amino acid positions of the protease variant are numbered according to the numbering of corresponding amino acid positions in the amino acid sequence of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens subtilisin BPN' shown in SEQ ID NO:2 as determined by alignment with the protease variant.
• the present invention provides nucleic acids encoding a subtilisin variant comprising an amino acid sequence which differs from the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2, and wherein the total net charge of the protease variant is +1 , +2, +3, +4, +5, 0, -1, -2, -3, -4, or -5 relative to the total net charge of the Bacillus lentus subtilisin BPN' protease, and wherein amino acid positions of the protease variant are numbered according to the numbering of corresponding amino acid positions in the amino acid sequence of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens subtilisin BPN' shown in SEQ ID NO:2 as determined by alignment of the protease variant amino acid sequence with the Bacillus amyloliquefaciens subtilisin BPN' amino acid sequence.
• the above low ionic strength protease variants may form part of a detergent composition that is diluted in water, typically within a laundry washing machine, to form a laundry detergent wash liquor, whose conductivity is from about 0.1 mS/cm to about 3 mS/cm, from about 0.3 mS/cm to about 2.5 mS/cm, or even from about 0.5 mS/cm to about 2 mS/cm.
• the protease variants may be high ionic strength protease variants.
• Such high ionic strength protease variants comprise two or more mutations, and have a total net charge of +5, +4, +3, +2, +1 or 0 relative to wild-type BPN' subtilisin protease wild- type shown in SEQ ID NO:2.
• the above high ionic strength protease variants may form part of a detergent composition that is diluted in water, typically within a laundry washing machine, to form a laundry detergent wash liquor, whose conductivity is from about 3 mS/cm to about 30 mS/cm, from about 3.5 mS/cm to about 20 mS/cm, or even from about 4mS/cm to about 10 mS/cm.
• the charge of the protease variants is expressed relative to BPN' having the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2.
• the amino acids that impart a single negative charge are D and E and those that impart a single positive charge are R, H and K.
• Any amino acid change versus SEQ ID NO:2 that changes a charge is used to calculate the charge of the protease variant. For example, introducing a negative charge mutation from a wild-type neutral position will add a net charge of -1 to the protease variant, whereas introducing a negative charge mutation (D or E) from a wild-type positive amino acid residue (R, H or K) will add a net charge of -2.
• the preferred charge range for cold water proteases to be used in low conductivity laundry detergent solutions is -5, -4, -3, -2, -1, 0, particularly -2, -1
• the preferred charge range for cold water proteases to be used in high conductivity laundry detergent solutions is +5, +4, +3, +2, +1, 0, particularly +2, +1.
• Low conductivity laundry detergent solutions are defined as having a conductivity of from about 0.1 mS/cm to about 3 mS/cm, from about 0.3 mS/cm to about 2.5 mS/cm, or even from about 0.5 mS/cm to about 2 mS/cm.
• High conductivity laundry detergent solutions are defined as having a conductivity of from about 3 mS/cm to about 30 mS/cm, from about 3.5 mS/cm to about 20 mS/cm, or even from about 4 mS/cm to about 10 mS/cm. It is intended that the above examples be non-limiting.
• the invention includes cold water proteases and products comprising at least one cold water protease.
• the cold water protease is a variant of subtilisin BPN' having SEQ ID NO:2, said variant comprising an amino acid sequence having one or more mutations, and having a total net charge of -1 , 0 or +1 relative to wild-type BPN' (SEQ ID NO: 2).
• the amino acids that impart negative charge are typically D and E and those that impart positive charge are typically R, H and K.
• this charge range (-1, 0, +1) is the optimal charge to deliver cold water performance.
• these examples should be viewed as non-limiting.
• the enzyme charge is balanced by mutations in further positions.
• the invention provides an isolated, recombinant, substantially pure, or non-naturally occurring protease variant (e.g., subtilisin variant) having proteolytic activity, said protease variant comprising an amino acid sequence which differs from the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO:2 by 50, 45, 40, 35, 30, 25, 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, or 8 amino acid residues, wherein amino acid positions are numbered according to the numbering of corresponding amino acid positions in the amino acid sequence of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens subtilisin BPN' shown in SEQ ID NO:2, as determined by alignment of the protease variant amino acid sequence with the Bacillus amyloliquefaciens subtilisin BPN' amino acid sequence, wherein the subtilisin variant includes the amino acid sequence of BPN'-v3 (SEQ ID NO:4) or BPN'-v36 (SEQ ID NO:6).
• subtilisin variant includes the amino acid sequence of BPN'-v3 (SEQ ID NO
• the invention provides an isolated, recombinant, substantially pure, or non- naturally occurring protease variant (e.g., subtilisin variant) having proteolytic activity, said protease variant comprising an amino acid sequence which differs from the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO:2 by no more than 50, 45, 40, 35, 30, 25, 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 amino acid residues, wherein amino acid positions are numbered according to the numbering of corresponding amino acid positions in the amino acid sequence of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens subtilisin BPN' shown in SEQ ID NO:2, as determined by alignment of the protease variant amino acid sequence with the Bacillus amyloliquefaciens subtilisin BPN' amino acid sequence, as set forth herein.
• protease variant e.g., subtilisin variant
• the invention includes an isolated, recombinant, or non-naturally occurring nucleic acid comprising a polynucleotide sequence encoding: (a) at least one protease variant of the invention, including any protease variant described herein, including, but not limited to, those protease variants set forth in the Part I Examples, (b) at least one cold water protease of the invention, or (c) at least one protease variant of the invention, including any protease variant described herein, including, but not limited to, a Series I GG36 variant set forth in the Part II Examples, or a complementary polynucleotide sequence of any thereof.
• the invention provides an expression vector comprising at least one nucleic acid of the invention.
• the expression vector may be operably linked to a promoter.
• the invention provides a nucleic acid comprising a polynucleotide sequence having at least 60%, 70%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 91 %, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99% or 100% sequence identity to the polynucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:3 or SEQ ID NO:5, or a complementary polynucleotide sequence thereof.
• Nucleic acids of the invention can be generated by using any suitable synthesis, manipulation, and/or isolation techniques, or combinations thereof.
• a polynucleotide of the invention may be produced using standard nucleic acid synthesis techniques, such as solid-phase synthesis techniques that are well-known to those skilled in the art. In such techniques, fragments of up to 50 or more nucleotide bases are typically synthesized, then joined (e.g., by enzymatic or chemical ligation methods, or polymerase mediated recombination methods) to form essentially any desired continuous nucleic acid sequence.
• nucleic acids of the invention can be also facilitated (or alternatively accomplished) by any suitable method known in the art, including but not limited to chemical synthesis using the classical phosphoramidite method (see, e.g., Beaucage et al. Tetrahedron Letters 22: 1859-69 (1981)); or the method described by Matthes et al., EMBO J. 3 :801-805 (1984), as is typically practiced in automated synthetic methods.
• Nucleic acids of the invention also can be produced by using an automatic DNA synthesizer. Customized nucleic acids can be ordered from a variety of commercial sources (e.g., The Midland Certified Reagent Company, the Great American Gene Company, Operon Technologies Inc., and DNA2.0).
• nucleotides of the invention may also be obtained by screening cDNA libraries (e.g., cDNA libraries generated using mutagenesis techniques commonly used in the art, including those described herein) using one or more oligonucleotide probes that can hybridize to or PCR-amplify polynucleotides which encode a protease variant polypeptide(s) of the invention.
• cDNA libraries e.g., cDNA libraries generated using mutagenesis techniques commonly used in the art, including those described herein
• oligonucleotide probes that can hybridize to or PCR-amplify polynucleotides which encode a protease variant polypeptide(s) of the invention.
• nucleic acids of the invention can be obtained by altering a naturally occurring polynucleotide backbone (e.g., that encodes an enzyme or parent protease) by, for example, a known mutagenesis procedure (e.g., site-directed mutagenesis, site saturation mutagenesis, and in vitro recombination).
• a naturally occurring polynucleotide backbone e.g., that encodes an enzyme or parent protease
• mutagenesis procedure e.g., site-directed mutagenesis, site saturation mutagenesis, and in vitro recombination.
• the invention includes nucleic acids that hybridize to a target nucleic acid of the invention (e.g.,
• hybridizing nucleic acid may hybridize to a nucleotide sequence of the invention under at least stringent conditions or under at least high stringency conditions.
• Moderately stringent, stringent, and highly stringent hybridization conditions for nucleic acid hybridization experiments are known. Examples of factors that can be combined to achieve such levels of stringency are briefly discussed herein.
• An extensive guide to the hybridization of nucleic acids is found in P. Tijssen (1993) Laboratory Techniques in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology - Hybridization with Nucleic Acid Probes, vol. 24, part I, chapter 2, “Overview of principles of hybridization and the strategy of nucleic acid probe assays," (Elsevier, N.Y.) (hereinafter "Tijssen”). See also Hames and Higgins (1995) Gene Probes 1 and 2. An indication that two nucleic acid sequences are substantially identical is that the two molecules hybridize to each other under at least stringent conditions.
• Tm thermal melting point
• the Tm corresponds to the temperature corresponding to the midpoint in transition from helix to random coil; it depends on length, nucleotide composition, and ionic strength for long stretches of nucleotides.
• a probe Under stringent conditions, a probe will typically hybridize to its target subsequence, but to no other sequences. Very stringent condition" are selected to be equal to the Tm for a particular probe.
• Tm (°C) 81.5°C+16.6 (log 10 M)+0.41 (% G+C)-0.72 (% f)-500/n, where M is the molarity of the monovalent cations (usually Na+), (% G+C) is the percentage of guanosine (G) and cytosine (C) nucleotides, (% f) is the percentage of formalize and n is the number of nucleotide bases (i.e., length) of the hybrid.
• Tm (°C) 79.8°C+18.5 (log 10 M)+0.58 (% G+C)-11.8(% G+C) 2 -0.56 (% f)-820/n, where M is the molarity of the monovalent cations (usually Na+), (% G+C) is the percentage of guanosine (G) and cytosine (C) nucleotides, (% f) is the percentage of formamide and n is the number of nucleotide bases (i.e., length) of the hybrid. Equations 1 and 2 above are typically accurate only for hybrid duplexes longer than about 100-200 nucleotides.
• Tm (°C) 4G+C)+2(A+T), where A (adenine), C, T (thymine), and G are the numbers of the corresponding nucleotides.
• Non-hybridized nucleic acid material is typically removed by a series of washes, the stringency of which can be adjusted depending upon the desired results, in conducting hybridization analysis.
• Low stringency washing conditions e.g., using higher salt and lower temperature
• Higher stringency conditions e.g., using lower salt and higher temperature that is closer to the hybridization temperature
• lower the background signal typically with only the specific signal remaining.
• Exemplary stringent conditions for analysis of at least two nucleic acids comprising at least 100 nucleotides include incubation in a solution or on a filter in a Southern or northern blot comprises 50% formalin (or formamide) with 1 milligram (mg) of heparin at 42°C, with the hybridization being carried out overnight.
• a regular stringency wash can be carried out using a solution comprising 0.2x SSC buffer wash at about 65°C for about 15 minutes (see Sambrook et al. (1989) Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, Cold Spring Harbor Press, and the third edition thereof (2001) for a description of SSC buffer).
• the regular stringency wash can be preceded by a low stringency wash to remove background probe signal.
• a low stringency wash can be carried out in, for example, a solution comprising 2x SSC buffer at about 40°C for about 15 minutes.
• a highly stringent wash can be carried out using a solution comprising 0.15 M NaCl at about 72°C for about 15 minutes.
• Exemplary moderate stringency conditions include overnight incubation at 37°C in a solution comprising 20% formalin (or formamide), 0.5x SSC, 50 mM sodium phosphate (pH 7.6), 5x Denhardt's solution, 10% dextran sulfate, and 20 mg/ml denatured sheared salmon sperm DNA, followed by washing the filters in lx SSC at about 37-50°C.
• High stringency conditions are conditions that (a) use low ionic strength and high temperature for washing, such as 0.015 M sodium chloride/0.0015 M sodium citrate/0.1 % sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) at 50°C, (b) employ a denaturing agent during hybridization, such as formamide, e.g., 50% (v/v) formamide with 0.1 % bovine serum albumin (BSA)/0.1 % Ficoll/0.1 % polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)/50 mM sodium phosphate buffer at pH 6.5 with 750 mM sodium chloride, 75 mM sodium citrate at 42°C, or (c) employ 50% formamide, 5x SSC (0.75 M NaCl, 0.075 M sodium citrate), 50 mM sodium phosphate (pH 6.8), 0.1 % sodium pyrophosphate, 5x Denhardt's solution, sonicated salmon sperm DNA (50 ⁇ g/ml), 0.1 % S
• a signal to noise ratio of 2x or 2.5x-5x that observed for an unrelated probe in the particular hybridization assay indicates detection of a specific hybridization. Detection of at least stringent hybridization between two sequences in the context of the present invention indicates relatively strong structural similarity or homology to a nucleic acid of the invention.
• polynucleotides of the invention that encode protease variants of the invention (such as cold water proteases of the invention), including, but not limited to, e.g., site-saturation mutagenesis, scanning mutagenesis, insertional mutagenesis, deletion mutagenesis, random mutagenesis, site-directed mutagenesis, and directed-evolution, as well as various other recombinatorial approaches.
• Methods for making modified polynucleotides and proteins include DNA shuffling methodologies (see, e.g., Stemmer WP, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 91(22): 10747-51 (1994)); methods based on non-homologous recombination of genes, e.g., ITCHY (Ostermeier et al., Bioorg. Med.
• a full-length parent polynucleotide is ligated into an appropriate expression plasmid, and the following mutagenesis method is used to facilitate the construction of the modified protease of the present invention, although other methods may be used.
• the method is based on that described by Pisarchik et al. (Pisarchik et al., Prot. Eng. Des. Select. 20:257-265 [2007]).
• an added advantage is provided in that the restriction enzyme cuts outside its recognition sequence, which allows digestion of practically any nucleotide sequence and precludes formation of a restriction site scar.
• a naturally-occurring gene encoding a full-length protease is obtained and sequenced and scanned for one or more points at which it is desired to make a mutation (e.g., deletion, insertion, substitution) at one or more amino acids.
• Mutation of the gene in order to change its sequence to conform to the desired sequence is accomplished by primer extension in accord with generally known methods. Fragments to the left and to the right of the desired point(s) of mutation are amplified by PCR and to include the Eaml 1041 restriction site.
• the left and right fragments are digested with Eaml 1041 to generate a plurality of fragments having complementary three base overhangs, which are then pooled and ligated to generate a library of modified sequences containing one or more mutations.
• This method avoids the occurrence of frame-shift mutations.
• This method also simplifies the mutagenesis process because all of the oligonucleotides can be synthesized so as to have the same restriction site, and no synthetic linkers are necessary to create the restriction sites as is required by some other methods.
• the invention includes a method of making a cold water protease, the method comprising: (a) providing a library of nucleic acid variants of a DNA substrate molecule that encodes a parent protease; (b) transforming the library of nucleic acid variants into host cells; (c) expressing the library to provide polypeptide expression products; (d) screening the polypeptide expression products to identify a mutant protease having at least one property selected from the group consisting of: (i) having a performance index of from 1.1 to 10 on a blood/milk/ink (BMI) stain at pH 8 and 16°C compared to PURAFECT® Prime (SEQ ID NO:2 with the amino acid substitution Y217L) as defined in the "Test Method” set forth in Part I Example 1 ; (ii) a performance index of from 1.3 to 10 on BMI stain at pH 8 and 16°C compared to BPN' (SEQ ID NO:2), as defined in the "Test Method” set forth here
• the invention provides an expression vector comprising at least one nucleic acid of the invention.
• nucleic acid may comprise a polynucleotide sequence encoding: (a) at least one protease variant of the invention, including any protease variant described herein, including, but not limited to, those protease variants set forth in the Part I Examples, (b) at least one cold water protease of the invention, or (c) at least one protease variant of the invention, including any protease variant described herein, including, but not limited to, a Series I GG36 variant set forth in the Part II Examples, or a complementary polynucleotide sequence of any thereof.
• Such expression vector may be operably linked to a promoter.
• the invention provides a recombinant host cell comprising: (a) a nucleic acid of the invention, (b) an expression vector comprising a nucleic acid of the invention, (c) a protease variant of the invention, including, but not limited to, e.g., a cold water protease of the invention.
• the recombinant host cell may be a bacterial cell, such as, but not limited to, e.g., a Bacillus cell.
• An exemplary Bacillus cell is a Bacillus subtilis cell.
• the invention provides a cell culture comprising: (a) a nucleic acid of the invention, (b) an expression vector comprising a nucleic acid of the invention, (c) a protease variant of the invention, including, but not limited to, e.g., a cold water protease of the invention variant.
• the invention provides isolated or recombinant vectors comprising at least one polynucleotide of the invention described herein (e.g., a polynucleotide encoding a protease variant of the invention described herein), isolated or recombinant expression vectors or expression cassettes comprising at least one nucleic acid or polynucleotide of the invention, isolated, substantially pure, or recombinant DNA constructs comprising at least one nucleic acid or polynucleotide of the invention, isolated or recombinant cells comprising at least one polynucleotide of the invention, cell cultures comprising cells comprising at least one polynucleotide of the invention, cell cultures comprising at least one nucleic acid or polynucleotide of the invention, and compositions comprising one or more such vectors, nucleic acids, expression vectors, expression cassettes, DNA constructs, cells, cell cultures, or any combination or mixtures thereof.
• isolated or recombinant vectors compris
• the invention provides recombinant cells comprising at least one vector (e.g., expression vector or DNA construct) of the invention which comprises at least one nucleic acid or polynucleotide of the invention.
• Some such recombinant cells are transformed or transfected with such at least one vector.
• Such cells are typically referred to as host cells.
• Some such cells comprise bacterial cells, including, but are not limited to, e.g., Bacillus sp. cells, such as, e.g., Bacillus subtilis cells.
• the invention also provides recombinant cells (e.g., recombinant host cells) comprising at least one protease variant of the invention.
• the invention provides a vector comprising a nucleic acid or polynucleotide of the invention.
• the vector may be an expression vector or expression cassette in which a polynucleotide sequence of the invention which encodes a protease variant of the invention is operably linked to one or additional nucleic acid segments required for efficient gene expression (e.g., a promoter operably linked to the polynucleotide of the invention which encodes a protease variant of the invention).
• a vector may include a transcription terminator and/or a selection gene, such as an antibiotic resistance gene that enables continuous cultural maintenance of plasmid-infected host cells by growth in antimicrobial- containing media.
• An expression vector may be derived from plasmid or viral DNA, or in alternative aspects, contains elements of both.
• Exemplary vectors include, but are not limited to pXX, pC194, pJHIOl, pE194, pHP13 (Harwood and Cutting (eds.)), Molecular Biological Methods for Bacillus, John Wiley & Sons (1990), see, e.g., chapter 3; suitable replicating plasmids for B. subtilis include those listed on p. 92; Perego, M. (1993) Integrational Vectors for Genetic Manipulations in Bacillus subtilis, pp. 615-624; A. L. Sonenshein, J. A. Hoch, and R. Losick (ed.), Bacillus subtilis and other Gram-positive bacteria:
• a protein of interest e.g., protease variant
• at least one expression vector comprising at least one copy of a polynucleotide encoding the modified protease, and preferably comprising multiple copies, is transformed into the cell under conditions suitable for expression of the protease.
• a polynucleotide sequence encoding the protease variant (as well as other sequences included in the vector) is integrated into the genome of the host cell, while in another aspect, a plasmid vector comprising a polynucleotide sequence encoding the protease variant remains as autonomous extra-chromosomal element within the cell.
• the invention provides both extrachromosomal nucleic acid elements as well as incoming nucleotide sequences that are integrated into the host cell genome.
• the vectors described herein are useful for production of the protease variants of the invention.
• a polynucleotide construct encoding the protease variant is present on an integrating vector that enables the integration and optionally the amplification of the polynucleotide encoding the protease variant into the bacterial chromosome. Examples of sites for integration include are well known to those skilled in the art.
• transcription of a polynucleotide encoding a protease variant of the invention is effectuated by a promoter that is the wild-type promoter for the selected precursor protease.
• the promoter is heterologous to the precursor protease, but is functional in the host cell.
• suitable promoters for use in bacterial host cells include, but are not limited to, e.g., the amyE, amyQ, amyL, pstS, sacB, pSPAC, pAprE, pVeg, pHpall promoters, the promoter of the B. stearothermophilus maltogenic amylase gene, the B.
• amyloliquefaciens (BAN) amylase gene, the B. subtilis alkaline protease gene, the B. clausii alkaline protease gene the B. pumilis xylosidase gene, the B. thuringiensis crylllA, and the B. licheniformis alpha-amylase gene.
• Additional promoters include, but are not limited to the A4 promoter, as well as phage Lambda P R or P L promoters, and the E. coli lac, trp or tac promoters.
• Protease variants of the invention can be produced in host cells of any suitable Gram-positive microorganism, including bacteria and fungi.
• the protease variant is produced in host cells of fungal and/or bacterial origin.
• the host cells are Bacillus sp., Streptomyces sp., Escherichia sp. or Aspergillus sp.
• the protease variants are produced by Bacillus sp. host cells. Examples of Bacillus sp. host cells that find use in the production of the protease variants of the invention include, but are not limited to B. licheniformis, B. lentus, B. subtilis, B.
• B. subtilis host cells are used for production of protease variants.
• U.S. Patents 5,264,366 and 4,760,025 describe various Bacillus host strains that can be used for producing protease variants of the invention, although other suitable strains can be used.
• the host strain is a recombinant strain, wherein a polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide of interest has been introduced into the host.
• the host strain is a B. subtilis host strain and particularly a recombinant Bacillus subtilis host strain.
• B. subtilis strains including, but not limited to, e.g., 1 A6 (ATCC 39085), 168 (1A01), SB19, W23, Ts85, B637, PB1753 through PB 1758, PB3360, JH642, 1A243 (ATCC 39,087),
• B. subtilis as an expression host cells is well known in the art (see, e.g., Palva et al., Gene 19:81-87 (1982); Fahnestock and Fischer, J. Bacteriol. 165:796-804 (1986); and Wang et al., Gene 69:39 ⁇ 7 (1988)).
• the Bacillus host cell is a Bacillus sp. that includes a mutation or deletion in at least one of the following genes, degU, degS, degR and degQ.
• the mutation may be in a degU gene, and in some instances the mutation may be degU(Hy)32. See, e.g., Msadek et al., J. Bacteriol. 172:824-834 (1990) and Olmos et al., Mol. Gen. Genet. 253:562-567 (1997)).
• a typical host strain is a Bacillus subtilis carrying a degU32(Hy) mutation.
• the Bacillus host may comprise an amino acid mutation (e.g., substitution) or deletion in scoC4 (see, e.g., Caldwell et al., J. Bacteriol. 183:7329-7340 (2001)); spoIIE (see, e.g., Arigoni et al., Mol. Microbiol. 31 : 1407-1415 (1999)); and/or oppA or other genes of the opp operon (see, e.g., Perego et al., Mol. Microbiol. 5: 173-185 (1991)).
• amino acid mutation e.g., substitution
• scoC4 see, e.g., Caldwell et al., J. Bacteriol. 183:7329-7340 (2001)
• spoIIE see, e.g., Arigoni et al., Mol. Microbiol. 31 : 1407-1415 (1999)
• an altered Bacillus host cell strain that can be used to produce a protease variant of the invention is a Bacillus host strain that already includes a mutation in one or more of the above-mentioned genes.
• Bacillus sp. host cells that comprise mutation(s) and/or deletions of endogenous protease genes find use.
• the Bacillus host cell may comprise a deletion of the aprE and the nprE genes.
• the Bacillus sp. host cell may comprise a deletion of 5 protease genes, or the Bacillus sp. host cell may comprise a deletion of 9 protease genes (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. Appn. Pub. No. 2005/0202535).
• Host cells are transformed with at least one nucleic acid encoding at least one protease variant of the invention using any suitable method known in the art.
• the nucleic acid is typically introduced into a microorganism, in one aspect, preferably an E. coli cell or a competent Bacillus cell.
• Methods for introducing a nucleic acid (e.g., DNA) into Bacillus cells or E. coli cells utilizing plasmid DNA constructs or vectors and transforming such plasmid DNA constructs or vectors into such cells are well known.
• the plasmids are subsequently isolated from E. coli cells and transformed into Bacillus cells.
• it is not essential to use intervening microorganisms such as E. coli and in one aspect, a DNA construct or vector is directly introduced into a Bacillus host.
• nucleic acid or polynucleotide sequences of the invention into Bacillus cells (see, e.g., Ferrari et al., "Genetics,” in Harwood et al. (ed.), Bacillus, Plenum Publishing Corp. (1989), pp. 57-72; Saunders et al., J. Bacteriol. 157:718-726 (1984); Hoch et al., J. Bacteriol. 93: 1925 -1937 (1967); Mann et al., Current Microbiol. 13: 131-135 (1986); and Holubova, Folia Microbiol. 30:97 (1985); Chang et al., Mol. Gen. Genet.
• Methods known in the art to transform Bacillus cells include such methods as plasmid marker rescue transformation, which involves the uptake of a donor plasmid by competent cells carrying a partially homologous resident plasmid (Contente et al., Plasmid 2:555-571 (1979); Haima et al., Mol. Gen. Genet. 223: 185-191 (1990); Weinrauch et al., J. Bacteriol. 154: 1077-1087 (1983); and Weinrauch et al., J. Bacteriol. 169: 1205-1211 (1987)).
• the incoming donor plasmid recombines with the homologous region of the resident "helper" plasmid in a process that mimics chromosomal transformation.
• host cells are directly transformed with a DNA construct or vector comprising a nucleic acid encoding a protease variant of the invention (i.e., an intermediate cell is not used to amplify, or otherwise process, the DNA construct or vector prior to introduction into the host cell).
• Introduction of the DNA construct or vector of the invention into the host cell includes those physical and chemical methods known in the art to introduce a nucleic acid sequence (e.g., DNA sequence) into a host cell without insertion into a plasmid or vector. Such methods include, but are not limited to calcium chloride precipitation, electroporation, naked DNA, liposomes and the like.
• DNA constructs or vector are co-transformed with a plasmid, without being inserted into the plasmid.
• a selective marker is deleted from the altered Bacillus strain by methods known in the art (see Stahl et al., J. Bacteriol. 158:411-418 (1984); and Palmeros et al., Gene 247:255 -264 (2000)).
• the transformed cells of the present invention are cultured in conventional nutrient media.
• suitable specific culture conditions such as temperature, pH and the like are known to those skilled in the art.
• some culture conditions may be found in the scientific literature such as Hopwood (2000) Practical Streptomyces Genetics. John Innes Foundation, Norwich UK; Hardwood et al., (1990) Molecular Biological Methods for Bacillus, John Wiley and from the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC).
• the invention provides a culture (e.g., cell culture) comprising at least one protease variant or at least one nucleic acid of the invention.
• a composition comprising at least one nucleic acid, vector, or DNA construct of the invention.
• Host cells transformed with at least one polynucleotide sequence encoding at least one protease variant of the invention may be cultured in a suitable nutrient medium under conditions permitting the expression of the present protease, after which the resulting protease is recovered from the culture.
• the medium used to culture the cells comprises any conventional medium suitable for growing the host cells, such as minimal or complex media containing appropriate supplements. Suitable media are available from commercial suppliers or may be prepared according to published recipes (e.g., in catalogues of the American Type Culture Collection).
• the protease produced by the cells may be recovered from the culture medium by conventional procedures, including, but not limited to, e.g., separating the host cells from the medium by centrifugation or filtration, precipitating the proteinaceous components of the supernatant or filtrate by means of a salt (e.g., ammonium sulfate), chromatographic purification (e.g., ion exchange, gel filtration, affinity, etc.). Any method suitable for recovering or purifying a protease variant of the invention can be used.
• a salt e.g., ammonium sulfate
• chromatographic purification e.g., ion exchange, gel filtration, affinity, etc.
• a protease variant produced by a recombinant host cell is secreted into the culture medium.
• a nucleic acid sequence that encodes a purification facilitating domain may be used to facilitate purification of soluble proteins.
• a vector or DNA construct comprising a polynucleotide sequence encoding a protease variant may further comprise a nucleic acid sequence encoding a purification facilitating domain to facilitate purification of the protease variant (see, e.g., Kroll, D.J. et al., DNA Cell Biol. 12:441-53 (1993)).
• Such purification facilitating domains include, but are not limited to, e.g., metal chelating peptides such as histidine-tryptophan modules that allow purification on immobilized metals (Porath J., Protein Expr. Purif. 3:263-281 (1992)), protein A domains that allow purification on immobilized immunoglobulin, and the domain utilized in the FLAGS extension/affinity purification system (Immunex Corp., Seattle, WA).
• a cleavable linker sequence such as Factor XA or enterokinase (Invitrogen, San Diego, CA) between the purification domain and the heterologous protein also find use to facilitate purification.
• Assays for detecting and measuring the enzymatic activity of an enzyme are well known.
• Various assays for detecting and measuring activity of proteases are also known to those of ordinary skill in the art.
• assays are available for measuring protease activity that are based on the release of acid- soluble peptides from casein or hemoglobin, measured as absorbance at 280 nm or colorimetrically using the Folin method (see, e.g., Bergmeyer et al., "Methods of Enzymatic Analysis” vol. 5, Peptidases- Proteinases and their Inhibitors.
• a variety of methods can be used to determine the level of production of a mature protease (e.g., mature protease variant of the invention) in a host cell. Such methods include, but are not limited to, e.g., methods that utilize either polyclonal or monoclonal antibodies specific for the protease. Exemplary methods include, but are not limited, e.g., to enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA), radioimmunoassays (RIA), fluorescent immunoassays (FIA), and fluorescent activated cell sorting (FACS). These and other assays are well known in the art (see, e.g., Maddox et al., J. Exp. Med.
• the invention provides methods for making or producing a mature protease variant of the invention.
• a mature protease variant does not include a signal peptide or a propeptide sequence.
• Some such methods comprising making or producing a protease variant of the invention in a recombinant bacterial host cell, such as, e.g., a Bacillus sp. cell, including, e.g., Bacillus subtilis cell.
• the invention provides a method of producing a protease variant of the invention, the method comprising cultivating a recombinant host cell comprising a recombinant expression vector comprising a nucleic acid encoding a protease variant of the invention under conditions conducive to the production of the protease variant. Some such methods further comprise recovering the protease variant from the culture.
• the invention provides a method of producing a protease variant of the invention, the method comprising: (a) introducing a recombinant expression vector comprising a nucleic acid encoding a protease variant of the invention into a population of cells (e.g., bacterial cells, such as Bacillus subtilis cells); and (b) culturing the cells in a culture medium under conditions conducive to produce the protease variant encoded by the expression vector. Some such methods further comprise: (c) isolating the protease variant from the cells or from the culture medium.
• a recombinant expression vector comprising a nucleic acid encoding a protease variant of the invention into a population of cells (e.g., bacterial cells, such as Bacillus subtilis cells); and (b) culturing the cells in a culture medium under conditions conducive to produce the protease variant encoded by the expression vector.
• Some such methods further comprise: (c) isolating the prote
• the protease variant polypeptides of the invention may be produced by direct peptide synthesis using solid-phase techniques (see, e.g., Stewart et al. (1969) Solid- Phase Peptide Synthesis, W.H. Freeman Co, San Francisco; Merrifield (1963) J. Am. Chem. Soc 85:2149-2154). Peptide synthesis may be performed using manual or automated techniques. Automated synthesis may be achieved, for example, using Applied Biosystems 431 A Peptide Synthesizer (Perkin Elmer, Foster City, Calif.) in accordance with the instructions provided by the manufacturer.
• subsequences may be chemically synthesized separately and combined using chemical methods to provide protease variants or functional fragments thereof.
• variant polypeptide sequences may be ordered from any number of companies that specialize in production of polypeptides.
• polypeptides of the invention are produced by expressing coding nucleic acids and recovering polypeptides, e.g., as described above and in the Examples.
• the invention provides a method of producing a protease variant, the method comprising cultivating a recombinant host cell of the invention, said host cell comprising an expression vector which comprising at least one nucleic acid of the invention, under conditions conducive to produce the variant.
• the method may further comprise recovering the variant from the culture.
• the invention includes a method of producing a protease variant, the method comprising: (a) introducing the recombinant expression vector of the invention into a population of cells; and (b) culturing the cells in a culture medium under conditions conducive to produce the subtilisin variant encoded by the expression vector.
• the method may further comprise (c) isolating the variant from the cells or from the culture medium.
• the invention provides methods for producing a serine protease variant of a Bacillus serine protease, comprising: transforming a host cell with an expression vector comprising a nucleic acid encoding the serine protease variant; and cultivating the transformed host cell under conditions suitable for the production of the serine protease variant.
• the methods further comprise the step of harvesting the produced serine protease variant.
• the host cell is a Bacillus cell, and in a subset of these aspects, the Bacillus cell is a B. subtilis cell.
• the present invention provides methods of cleaning, comprising the step of contacting a surface and/or an article comprising a fabric with a cleaning composition comprising a serine protease variant.
• the present invention provides methods of cleaning, comprising the step of contacting a surface and/or an article comprising dishware with a cleaning composition comprising a serine protease variant.
• the invention provides a method for identifying a wild-type subtilisin protease, said subtilisin protease comprising an amino acid sequence which comprises the following amino acids: a glycine or arginine at amino acid position 24, a glycine at amino acid position 53, an asparagine at amino acid position 78, an alanine at amino acid position 97, an asparagine at amino acid position 101, an alanine or serine at amino acid position 128, and/or a leucine or glutamine at amino acid position 217, wherein said amino acid positions are numbered by correspondence with amino acid positions in the amino acid sequence of BPN' set forth in SEQ ID NO:2, said method comprising: a) providing a sample comprising at least one wild-type subtilisin protease or a library of wild-type subtilisin proteases, or providing a DNA sample comprising one or more DNA sequences encoding wild-type subtilisin proteases; and b) identifying a wild-type subtilisin
• the invention provides an expression vector comprising at least one nucleic acid of the tenth or eleventh aspect of the invention.
• An expression vector according to the twelfth aspect of the invention may be operably linked to a promoter.
• Such expression vector may be in isolated or purified form.
• the invention provides a recombinant host cell comprising: (a) a nucleic acid of the tenth or eleventh aspect of the invention or (b) an expression vector of the twelfth aspect of the invention.
• a recombinant host cell of the thirteenth aspect of the invention may be a bacterial cell, which may optionally be a Bacillus cell.
• a recombinant host cell of the thirteenth aspect of the invention may be a Bacillus subtilis cell.
• the invention provides a cell culture comprising: (a) a nucleic acid of the tenth or eleventh aspect of the invention or (b) an expression vector of the twelfth aspect of the invention.
• the invention provides a method of producing a protease variant, the method comprising cultivating a recombinant host cell of the thirteenth aspect of the invention under conditions conducive to produce the variant.
• a method according to the fifteenth aspect of the invention may further comprise isolating or recovering the variant from the culture.
• the invention provides a method of producing a protease variant, the method comprising: (a) introducing the recombinant expression vector of the twelfth aspect of the invention into a population of cells; and (b) culturing the cells in a culture medium under conditions conducive to produce the protease variant encoded by the expression vector.
• the method according to the sixteenth aspect of the invention may further comprise (c) isolating or recovering the variant from the cells or from the culture medium.
• the invention includes a composition comprising at least one polypeptide (e.g., at least one protease variant) of the invention.
• polypeptides of the invention are described infra and supra, including in the Part I Examples and Part II Examples.
• Such compositions may comprise at least one excipient, carrier, adjunct ingredient, or other substituent, component, or material.
• the invention includes a composition comprising at least one protease variant and at least one excipient, carrier, adjunct ingredient, or other substituent, component, or material.
• at least one protease variant may be any one of those set forth herein, including, but not limited to, in the Part I Examples.
• Such at least one protease variant may be a BPN' protease variant.
• a composition of the invention may be a BPN' protease variant, such as BPN'-v36 (SEQ ID NO:6) or BPN'-v3 (SEQ ID NO:4) or any protease variant set forth herein or in Part I Examples 2-23.
• Such composition may be a fabric and home care product or fabric and home care composition.
• such composition may be a fabric and home care product or fabric and home care composition.
• composition may further comprise (in addition to a BPN' protease variant) at least one GG36 protease variant, such as at least one Series I GG36 protease variant described in the Part II Examples.
• GG36 protease variant such as at least one Series I GG36 protease variant described in the Part II Examples.
• the invention provides a composition comprising a variant (or polypeptide as in the third aspect) of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, or ninth aspect of the invention.
• a composition according to the seventeenth aspect of the invention may comprise an adjunct ingredient or carrier as described in greater detail elsewhere herein.
• a composition according to the seventeenth aspect of the invention may comprise at least one builder and/or at least one surfactant.
• a composition according to the seventeenth aspect of the invention may comprise phosphate or may not comprise phosphate.
• a composition according to the seventeenth aspect of the invention may be a cleaning composition or a detergent composition.
• a composition according to the seventeenth aspect of the invention may be a fabric or home care product.
• a composition according to the seventeenth aspect of the invention may not be a fabric or home care product.
• a composition according to the seventeenth aspect of the invention may be a cleaning composition or detergent composition that is a fabric or home care product.
• a composition according to the seventeenth aspect of the invention may be a cleaning composition or detergent composition that is not a fabric or home care product..
• a composition according to the seventeenth aspect of the invention may comprise may further comprise one, two, three, four, five or more additional enzymes.
• additional enzyme(s) may be selected from the group consisting of additional enzymes selected from the group consisting of hemicellulase, cellulase, amylase, peroxidase, protease, xylanase, lipase, phospholipase, esterase, cutinase, pectinase, pectate lyase, mannanase, keratinase, reductase, oxidase, phenoloxidase, lipoxygenase, ligninase, pullulanase, tannase, pentosanase, malanase, ⁇ -glucanase, arabinosidase, hyaluronidase, chondroitinase, and laccase.
• the additional enzyme according to the seventeenth aspect of the invention may be a GG36 protease variant having proteolytic activity, such as, e.g., a Series I GG36 protease variant, which Series I GG36 protease variant may comprise an amino acid sequence having at least 60%, 70%, 80%, 85%,
• subtilisin Bacillus lentus GG36 of SEQ ID NO:755 and at least one amino acid substitution selected from the group consisting of AIR, Q2S, V4R, V4S, S9A, R10S, P14K, A16S, H17R, N18R, G20R, T22A, T22R, S24R, S24W, G25R, G25V, V26F, L42I, N43R, N43A, G46R, P52F, P52E, P52N, T57R, Q59A, N62E, N62Q, V68A, V68C, T71G, I72C, A74C, L75A, L75F, L75R, N76D, S78R, L82R, P86W, E89P, E89T, E89G, E89H, E89I, E89V, E89
• a composition according to the seventeenth aspect of the invention that comprises an additional enzyme may be a fabric and home care product.
• such composition may not be a fabric and home care product.
• a composition according to the seventeenth aspect of the invention may comprise a Series I GG36 protease variant which comprises an amino acid sequence having at least 60%, 70%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 91 %, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% sequence identity to the subtilisin Bacillus lentus GG36 of SEQ ID NO:755 and at least one amino acid substitution selected from the group consisting of T022R-S024R, S009A-E271L, N018R-W241R, N018R-G115R, N043R-H249R, G020R- H249R, V004R-H249R, G020R-S024R, N018R-H249R, S009A-G020R, G020R-W241R, S009A- S078R, G020R-G115R, N018R-S024R, S024
• a composition according to the seventeenth aspect of the invention may comprise an Series I GG36 protease variant which comprises an amino acid sequence having at least 60%, 70%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 91 %, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, or 98% sequence identity to the subtilisin Bacillus lentus GG36 of SEQ ID NO:755 and comprises three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, or even 25 amino acid substitutions selected from the group consisting of: AIR, Q2S, V4R, V4S, S9A, R10S, P14K, A16S, H17R, N18R, G20R, T22A, T22R, S24R, S24W, G25R, G25V, V26F, L42I, N43R, N43A, G46R, P52F, P52E, P52N, T57R, Q59A, N62E, N62
• a composition according to the seventeenth aspect of the invention may comprise a Series I GG36 protease variant which comprises an amino acid sequence having at least 60%, 70%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 91 %, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, or 98% sequence identity to the subtilisin Bacillus lentus GG36 of SEQ ID NO:755 and (a) two or more substitutions selected from the group consisting of AIR, Q2S, V4R, V4S, S9A, R10S, P14K, A16S, T22A, T22R, S24R, G25V, V26F, L42I, P52F, P52E, P52N, N62E, N62Q, V68A, V68C, T71G, I72C, A74C.
• AIR Q2S, V4R, V4S, S9A, R10S, P14K, A16S, T22A, T22R, S24R, G25V
• a composition according to the seventeenth aspect of the invention may comprise a Series I GG36 protease variant which comprises an amino acid sequence having at least 60%, 70%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 91 %, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, or 98% sequence identity to the subtilisin Bacillus lentus GG36 of SEQ ID NO:755 and (a) two or more substitutions selected from the group of consisting of V4R, H17R, N18R, G20R, T22R, S24R, S24W, G25R, N43R, N43A, G46R, P52F, P52N, T57R, Q59A, N62Q, T71G, L75R, N76D, S78R, L82R, P86W, E89P, E89W, E89T, E89I, E89H, E89V, V104L, S 106V, S 106G, G115R, G118I, V121F, S 144
• a composition according to the seventeenth aspect of the invention may comprise at least one additional enzyme selected from the group consisting of hemicellulase, cellulase, amylase, peroxidase, protease, xylanase, lipase, phospholipase, esterase, cutinase, pectinase, pectate lyase, mannanase, keratinase, reductase, oxidase, phenoloxidase, lipoxygenase, ligninase, pullulanase, tannase, pentosanase, malanase, ⁇ -glucanase, arabinosidase, hyaluronidase, chondroitinase, and laccase.
• additional enzyme selected from the group consisting of hemicellulase, cellulase, amylase, peroxidase, protease
• a composition according to the seventeenth aspect of the invention may comprise two or more additional enzymes selected from the group consisting of hemicellulase, cellulase, amylase, peroxidase, protease, xylanase, lipase, phospholipase, esterase, cutinase, pectinase, pectate lyase, mannanase, keratinase, reductase, oxidase, phenoloxidase, lipoxygenase, ligninase, pullulanase, tannase, pentosanase, malanase, ⁇ - glucanase, arabinosidase, hyaluronidase, chondroitinase, and laccase.
• additional enzymes selected from the group consisting of hemicellulase, cellulase, amylase, peroxidase, prote
• a composition according to the seventeenth aspect of the invention may comprise phosphate or may not contain phosphate.
• a composition according to the seventeenth aspect of the invention may comprise at least one builder and/or at least one surfactant.
• the polypeptides of the invention are useful in a variety of cleaning applications, including laundry cleaning applications, automatic dishwashing applications, hand dishwashing applications, hard surface cleaning applications, personal care applications, and other applications described herein.
• the invention provides cleaning compositions comprising at least one polypeptide (e.g., protease variant) of the invention.
• cleaning compositions include, but are not limited to, e.g., automatic and hand dishwashing detergent compositions, laundry detergent compositions (including, e.g., liquid and powder laundry detergent compositions), fabric cleaning compositions, hard surface cleaning compositions (including, but not limited to, e.g., hard surface of a non-dishware item, non-tableware item, table, table top, furniture item, wall, floor, ceiling, etc.).
• Such cleaning compositions which are useful in methods of cleaning an item or a surface in need of cleaning, may comprise, e.g., but not limited to, at least one excipient, carrier, and/or other substituent, component, or material.
• the invention provides a composition comprising any polypeptide of the invention (e.g., any protease variant or subtilisin variant of the invention) described herein, wherein said composition is a fabric and home care composition or a fabric and home care product.
• any polypeptide of the invention e.g., any protease variant or subtilisin variant of the invention
• the invention provides a composition comprising any polypeptide of the invention (e.g., any protease variant or subtilisin variant of the invention) described herein, wherein said composition is not a fabric and home care composition or not a fabric and home care product.
• any polypeptide of the invention e.g., any protease variant or subtilisin variant of the invention
• a composition of the invention comprising a protease variant of the invention may further comprise at least one adjunct material selected from perfume encapsulate; fabric hueing agent; cold-water soluble brightener; a bleach catalyst that may comprise a material selected from an iminium cation, iminium polyion, iminium zwitterion; modified amine; modified amine oxide; N-sulphonyl imine; N-phosphonyl imine; N-acyl imine; thiadiazole dioxide; perfluoroimine; cyclic sugar ketone; first wash lipase; bacterial cleaning cellulase; Guerbet nonionic surfactant; and mixture of any thereof.
• compositions of the invention may further comprise at least one additional non-immunoequivalent protease selected from subtilisins (EC 3.4.21.62); trypsin-like or chymotrypsin-like proteases; metalloproteases; and mixtures thereof.
• Compositions of the invention may further comprise at least one additional non- immunoequivalent protease selected from: subtilisins (EC 3.4.21.62) derived from fi. subtilis, B.
• amyloliquefaciens B. pumilus and B. gibsonii; trypsin proteases and/or chymotrypsin proteases derived from Cellulomonas; metalloproteases derived from B. amyloliquefaciens; and mixtures thereof.
• compositions of the invention further comprise at least one additional enzyme selected from first-wash lipases; alpha-amylases; bacterial cleaning cellulases; and mixtures thereof.
• a composition of the invention may further comprise at least one of the following: an encapsulate comprising a perfume comprises a perfume micro capsule; a hueing agent comprising a material selected from basic, acid, hydrophobic, direct and polymeric dyes, and dye-conjugates having a peak absorption wavelength of from 550 nm to 650 nm and mixtures thereof; a detersive surfactant comprising a material selected from anionic detersive surfactants, non-ionic detersive surfactant, cationic detersive surfactants, zwitterionic detersive surfactants and amphoteric detersive surfactants and mixtures thereof; a builder comprising a material selected from zeolites, phosphates and mixtures thereof; a silicate salt comprising a material selected from sodium silicate, potassium silicate and mixtures thereof; a brightener comprising a material selected from cold-water soluble brightener and mixtures thereof; a carboxylate polymer comprising a material selected from maleate/
• DTPMP diethylene triamine penta(methylene phosphonic acid)
• EDDS ethylenediaminedisuccinic acid
• l,2-dihydroxybenzene-3,5-disulfonic acid disodium salt hydrate derivative of said chelant; and any mixture thereof.
• a composition of the invention may comprise a fabric hueing agent selected from the group consisting of a dye; dye-clay conjugate comprising at least one cationic-basic dye and a smectite clay; and any mixture thereof.
• a composition of the invention may comprise at least one fabric hueing agent selected from small molecule dye, polymeric dye, and any mixture thereof; dye-clay conjugate comprising at least one cationic-basic dye and a smectite clay; and any mixture thereof.
• a composition comprising a protease of the invention may be provided in single or multiple- compartment unit doses.
• the composition may be a multi-compartment unit dose, wherein the protease variant is in a different compartment than any source of hydrogen peroxide and/or chelant and/or additional enzyme.
• a composition comprising at least one protease variant or polypeptide of the invention may comprise a wash liquor.
• a composition comprising at least one protease variant of the invention may comprise one or more of the following ingredients (based on total composition weight): from about 0.0005 wt% to about 0.1 wt%, from about 0.001 wt% to about 0.05 wt%, or even from about 0.002 wt% to about 0.03 wt% of said protease variant; and one or more of the following: from about 0.00003 wt% to about 0.1 wt% fabric hueing agent; from about 0.001 wt% to about 5 wt %, perfume capsules; from about 0.001 wt% to about 1 wt%, cold-water soluble brighteners; from about 0.00003 wt% to about 0.1 wt% bleach catalysts; from about 0.00003 wt% to about 0.1 wt% first wash lipases; from about 0.00003 wt% to about 0.1 wt% bacterial cleaning cellulases; and/or from about 0.05 wt% to
• a composition may be a granular or powder laundry detergent comprising a cold water protease or comprising a protease variant that is not a cold water protease.
• a composition of the invention may be provided in any suitable form, including a fluid or solid.
• the composition may be in the form of a unit dose pouch, especially when in the form of a liquid, and the composition may be at least partially, or even completely, enclosed by a water-soluble pouch.
• the composition may have any combination of parameters and/or characteristics detailed above.
• Enzyme components weights are based on total active protein. All percentages and ratios are calculated by weight unless otherwise indicated. All percentages and ratios are calculated based on the total composition unless otherwise indicated. In the exemplified detergent compositions, the enzymes levels are expressed by pure enzyme by weight of the total composition and, unless otherwise specified, the detergent ingredients are expressed by weight of the total compositions.
• the cleaning compositions of the present invention may further comprise one or more adjunct materials or ingredients including, but not limited to, e.g., one or more surfactants, builders, bleaches, bleach activators, bleach catalysts, other enzymes, enzyme stabilizing systems, chelants, optical brighteners, soil release polymers, dye transfer agents, dispersants, suds suppressors, dyes, perfumes, perfume capsules, colorants, filler salts, hydrotropes, photoactivators, fluorescers, fabric conditioners, fabric softeners, hydrolyzable surfactants, preservatives, anti-oxidants, anti-shrinkage agents, anti-wrinkle agents, germicides, fungicides, color speckles, silvercare, anti-tarnish and/or anti-corrosion agents, alkalinity sources, solubilizing agents, carriers, excipients, processing aids, pigments, rinse aid (e.g., a rinse aid containing at least one surfactant to prevent water droplet formation
• one or more surfactants
• the cleaning compositions of the present invention are advantageously employed, for example, in laundry applications, hard surface cleaning applications, hand or manual dishwashing applications, automatic dishwashing applications, eyeglass cleaning applications, as well as cosmetic applications, such as for cleaning dentures, teeth, hair, and skin. Due to the unique advantages of increased effectiveness in lower temperature solutions, the protease variant enzymes of the present invention are suited for laundry applications and dishwashing applications, including hand and automatic dishwashing applications. Furthermore, the protease variant enzymes of the present invention find use in solid, gel, granular, and/or liquid compositions, including solid, gel, granular, and/or liquid detergent compositions and/or formulations.
• the protease variants of the present invention also find use cleaning additive product compositions.
• a protease variant of the invention is useful in low temperature solution cleaning applications and methods.
• the invention provides cleaning additive product compositions which include at least one protease variant enzyme of the present invention and which are ideally suited for inclusion in a wash process when additional bleaching effectiveness is desired. Such instances include, but are not limited to, e.g., low temperature solution cleaning applications.
• the additive product composition is in its simplest form - i.e., one or more protease variants of the invention.
• the additive product composition is packaged in dosage form for addition to a cleaning process.
• the additive product composition is packaged in dosage form for addition to a cleaning process where a source of peroxygen is employed and increased bleaching effectiveness is desired.
• Any suitable single dosage unit form may be used, including but not limited to, e.g., pills, tablets, gelcaps, or other single dosage units, such as pre-measured powders or liquids.
• the invention provides a cleaning product composition comprising at least one protease variant of the invention, wherein the product is formulated in suitable form (e.g., as a liquid, powder solid, pill, tablet, gelcap or other suitable form) in a suitable single dosage unit such that a single dose of the protease variant is provided.
• Such cleaning products are useful in a variety of cleaning methods and applications, including but not limited to, e.g., machine or hand laundry methods and applications, automatic dishwashing or hand dishwashing methods and applications, etc. Such cleaning methods and applications may be conducted at low temperature or low pH conditions.
• at least one filler and/or at least one carrier material is included to increase the volume of such compositions.
• Suitable filler or carrier materials include, but are not limited to, e.g., various salts of sulfate, carbonate and silicate as well as talc, clay and the like.
• Suitable filler or carrier materials for liquid compositions include, but are not limited to, e.g., water or low molecular weight primary and secondary alcohols including polyols and diols.
• the compositions contain from about 5% to about 90% of such filler or carrier materials. Acidic fillers may be included in such compositions to reduce the pH of the resulting solution in the cleaning method or application.
• the cleaning additive includes one or more adjunct ingredients, as more fully described below.
• a cleaning composition comprises at least about 0.0001 weight percent to about 20 weight percent, from about 0.0001 to about 10 weight percent, from about 0.0001 to about 1 weight percent, from about 0.001 to about 1 weight percent, or from about 0.01 to about 0.1 weight percent of at least one protease variant of the invention.
• a composition of the invention (e.g., cleaning composition of the invention) comprises from about 0.01 milligram (mg) to about 10 mg, about 0.01 to about 5 mg, about 0.01 mg to about 2 mg, about 0.01 to about 1 mg, about 0.5 mg to about 10 mg, about 0.5 to about 5 mg, about 0.5 to about 4 mg, about 0.5 to about 4 mg, about 0.5 to about 3 mg, about 0.5 to about 2 mg, about 0.5 to about 1 mg, about 0.1 to about 10 mg, about 0.1 to about 5 mg, about 0.1 to about 4 mg, about 0.1 to about 3 mg, about 0.1 to about 2 mg, about 0.1 to about 2 mg, about 0.1 to about 1 mg, about 0.1 to about 0.5 mg of at least one active protease variant of the invention per gram of the composition.
• the invention includes a cleaning composition comprising an amount of a protease variant of the invention (said composition optionally comprising one or more adjunct ingredients) such that when the cleaning composition is added to wash water the resultant protease concentration in the resultant wash liquor is 0.01 ppm to 10 ppm, including, e.g., 0.1 ppm to 1 ppm, 0.1 to 5 ppm, 1 to 5 ppm, 1 ppm to 10 ppm, 5 ppm to 10 ppm, 5 ppm to 7 ppm.
• the cleaning compositions of the invention are typically formulated such that, during use in aqueous cleaning operations, the wash water will have a pH of from about 5.0 to about 11.5 or even from about 7.5 to about 10.5.
• Liquid product compositions or formulations are typically formulated to have a neat pH from about 3.0 to about 9.0 or from about 3.0 to about 5.0.
• Granular laundry product compositions are typically formulated to have a pH from about 9 to about 11.
• Hand dishwashing and automatic dishwashing detergent compositions are typically formulated to have a pH from about 8 to about 11.5, including, but not limited to, e.g., pH ranges of about 8 to about 10, from about 9 to about 11.5, and from about 9.5 to about 11.5 depending on the method and specific application. Techniques for controlling pH at recommended usage levels include the use of buffers, alkalis, acids, etc., and are well known to those skilled in the art.
• Suitable low pH cleaning compositions typically have a neat pH of from about 3 to about 5, and are typically free of surfactants that hydrolyze in such a pH environment.
• surfactants include sodium alkyl sulfate surfactants that comprise at least one ethylene oxide moiety or even from about 1 to about 16 moles of ethylene oxide.
• Such cleaning compositions typically comprise a sufficient amount of a pH modifier, such as sodium hydroxide, monoethanolamine, or hydrochloric acid, to provide such cleaning composition with a neat pH of from about 3 to about 5.
• Such compositions typically comprise at least one acid stable enzyme.
• the compositions are liquids, while in other aspects, they are solids.
• the pH of such liquid compositions is typically measured as a neat pH.
• the pH of such solid compositions is measured as a 10% solids solution of said composition wherein the solvent is distilled water. In these aspects, all pH measurements are taken at 20°C, unless otherwise indicated.
• the protease variant(s) of the invention when the protease variant(s) of the invention is/are employed in a granular composition or liquid, it is desirable for the protease variant to be in the form of an encapsulated particle to protect the protease variant from other components of the granular composition during storage.
• encapsulation is also a means of controlling the availability of the protease variant during the cleaning process.
• encapsulation enhances the performance of the protease variant(s) and/or additional enzymes.
• the protease variants of the present invention are encapsulated with any suitable encapsulating material known in the art.
• the encapsulating material typically encapsulates at least part of the catalyst for the protease variant(s) of the invention.
• the encapsulating material is water-soluble and/or water-dispersible.
• the encapsulating material has a glass transition temperature (Tg) of 0°C or higher. Glass transition temperature is described in more detail in WO 97/11151.
• the encapsulating material is typically selected from consisting of carbohydrates, natural or synthetic gums, chitin, chitosan, cellulose and cellulose derivatives, silicates, phosphates, borates, polyvinyl alcohol, polyethylene glycol, paraffin waxes, and combinations thereof.
• the encapsulating material When the encapsulating material is a carbohydrate, it is typically selected from monosaccharides, oligosaccharides, polysaccharides, and combinations thereof.
• the encapsulating material is a starch (see, e.g., EP 0 922 499; U.S. Patent Nos. 4,977,252, 5,354,559, and 5,935,826).
• the encapsulating material is a microsphere made from plastic such as thermoplastics, acrylonitrile, methacrylonitrile, polyacrylonitrile, polymethacrylonitrile and mixtures thereof; commercially available microspheres that find use include, but are not limited to those supplied by EXPANCEL®
• the protease variants of the invention find particular use in the cleaning methods and applications, including, but not limited to, e.g., cleaning, laundry, hand dishwashing, and automatic dishwashing detergent compositions. These applications place enzymes under various environmental stresses.
• the protease variants of the invention provide advantages over many currently used enzymes in such cleaning applications due to their proteolytic activity and stability under various conditions.
• wash conditions including varying detergent formulations, wash water volumes, wash water temperatures, and lengths of wash time, to which proteases involved in washing are exposed.
• detergent formulations used in different geographical areas have different concentrations of their relevant components present in the wash water.
• European detergents typically have about 4500-5000 parts per million (ppm) of detergent components in the wash water
• Japanese detergents typically have approximately 667 ppm of detergent components in the wash water.
• detergents typically have about 975 ppm of detergent components present in the wash water.
• a low detergent concentration system includes detergents where less than about 800 ppm of the detergent components are present in the wash water.
• Japanese detergents are typically considered low detergent concentration system as they have approximately 667 ppm of detergent components present in the wash water.
• a medium detergent concentration includes detergents where between about 800 ppm and about 2000 ppm of the detergent components are present in the wash water.
• North American detergents are generally considered to be medium detergent concentration systems as they have approximately 975 ppm of detergent components present in the wash water. Brazil typically has approximately 1500 ppm of detergent components present in the wash water.
• a high detergent concentration system includes detergents where greater than about 2000 ppm of the detergent components are present in the wash water.
• European detergents are generally considered to be high detergent concentration systems as they have approximately 4500-5000 ppm of detergent components in the wash water.
• Latin American detergents are generally high suds phosphate builder detergents and the range of detergents used in Latin America can fall in both the medium and high detergent concentrations as they range from 1500 ppm to 6000 ppm of detergent components in the wash water. As mentioned above, Brazil typically has approximately 1500 ppm of detergent components present in the wash water.
• high suds phosphate builder detergent geographies may have high detergent concentration systems up to about 6000 ppm of detergent components present in the wash water.
• concentrations of detergent compositions in typical wash solutions throughout the world varies from less than about 800 ppm of detergent composition ("low detergent concentration geographies"), e.g., about 667 ppm in Japan, to between about 800 ppm to about 2000 ppm ("medium detergent concentration geographies” ), e.g., about 975 ppm in U.S. and about 1500 ppm in Brazil, to greater than about 2000 ppm ("high detergent concentration geographies”), e.g., about 4500 ppm to about 5000 ppm in Europe and about 6000 ppm in high suds phosphate builder geographies.
• concentrations of the typical wash solutions are determined empirically.
• a typical washing machine holds a volume of about 64.4 L of wash solution. Accordingly, in order to obtain a concentration of about 975 ppm of detergent within the wash solution about 62.79 g of detergent composition must be added to the 64.4 L of wash solution. This amount is the typical amount measured into the wash water by the consumer using the measuring cup provided with the detergent.
• different geographies use different wash temperatures.
• the temperature of the wash water in Japan is typically less than that used in Europe.
• the temperature of the wash water in North America and Japan is typically between about 10 and about 30°C (e.g., about 20°C), whereas the temperature of wash water in Europe is typically between about 30 and about 60°C (e.g., about 40°C).
• cold water is typically used for laundry, as well as in dishwashing applications.
• the "cold water washing” of the present invention utilizes washing at temperatures from about 4°C to about 10°C, from about 10°C to about 40°C, or from about 20°C to about 30°C, from about 15°C to about 25°C, from about 10°C to about 20°C, from about 14°C to about 18°C, as well as all other combinations within the range of about 15°C to about 35°C, and all ranges within 10°C to 40°C, and about 16°C.
• Water hardness is usually described in terms of the grains per gallon mixed Ca 2+ /Mg 2+ .
• Hardness is a measure of the amount of calcium (Ca 2+ ) and magnesium (Mg 2+ ) in the water. Most water in the United States is hard, but the degree of hardness varies. Moderately hard (60-120 ppm) to hard (121-181 ppm) water has 60 to 181 parts per million (parts per million converted to grains per U.S. gallon is ppm # divided by 17.1 equals grains per gallon) of hardness minerals.
• European water hardness is typically greater than about 10.5 (e.g., about 10.5 to about 20.0) grains per gallon mixed Ca 2+ /Mg 2+ (e.g., about 15 grains per gallon mixed Ca 2+ /Mg 2+ ).
• North American water hardness is typically greater than Japanese water hardness, but less than European water hardness.
• North American water hardness can be between about 3 to about 10 grains, about 3 to about 8 grains or about 6 grains.
• Japanese water hardness is typically lower than North American water hardness, usually less than about 4, for example about 3 grains per gallon mixed Ca 2+ Mg 2+ .
• the invention provides protease variants that show surprising wash performance in at least one set of wash conditions (e.g., water temperature, water hardness, and/or detergent concentration).
• the protease variants of the invention are comparable in wash performance to other subtilisin proteases.
• the protease variants of the present invention exhibit enhanced wash performance as compared to subtilisin proteases currently commercially available.
• the protease variants provided herein exhibit enhanced oxidative stability, enhanced thermal stability, enhanced cleaning capabilities under various conditions, and/or enhanced chelator stability.
• the protease variants of the invention find use in cleaning compositions that do not include detergents, again either alone or in combination with builders and stabilizers.
• the invention provides a cleaning composition comprising at least one protease variant of the present invention that is present at a level from about 0.00001 % to about 10% by weight of the composition with the balance (e.g., about 99.999% to about 90.0%) comprising one or more cleaning adjunct materials by weight of composition.
• the invention provides a cleaning composition comprising at least one protease variant of the invention that is present at a level of about 0.0001 % to about 10%, about O.001 % to about 5%, about O.001 % to about 2%, or about O.005% to about 0.5% by weight of the composition with the balance of the cleaning composition (e.g., about 99.9999% to about 90.0%, about 99.999 % to about 98%, about 99.995% to about 99.5% by weight) comprising one or more cleaning adjunct materials.
• the balance of the cleaning composition e.g., about 99.9999% to about 90.0%, about 99.999 % to about 98%, about 99.995% to about 99.5% by weight
• a cleaning composition of the invention comprises, in addition to at least one protease variant of the invention, one or more additional enzymes, which provide cleaning performance and/or fabric care and/or hand or manual dishwashing and/or automatic dishwashing benefits.
• suitable enzymes include, but are not limited to, e.g., hemicellulases, cellulases, peroxidases, proteases, xylanases, lipases, phospholipases, esterases, perhydrolases, cutinases, pectinases, pectate lyases, mannanases, keratinases, reductases, oxidases, phenoloxidases, lipoxygenases, ligninases, pullulanases, tannases, pentosanases, malanases, ⁇ -glucanases, arabinosidases, hyaluronidase, chondroitinase, laccase, and/or am
• the cleaning composition comprises, in addition to at least one protease variant of the invention, a combination of additional enzymes (i.e., a "cocktail") comprising conventional applicable enzymes such as, e.g., at least one additional protease, lipase, cutinase, cellulose, and/or amylase.
• additional enzymes i.e., a "cocktail”
• conventional applicable enzymes such as, e.g., at least one additional protease, lipase, cutinase, cellulose, and/or amylase.
• any other suitable protease may find use and be included in a composition of the invention.
• the invention provides a composition (e.g., cleaning composition) comprising at least one protease variant of the invention and at least one additional protease.
• Suitable proteases include those of animal, vegetable, or microbial origin.
• a microbial protease may be included.
• a chemically or genetically modified mutant of a protease may be included.
• the at least one additional protease is a serine protease, preferably an alkaline microbial protease or a trypsin-like protease.
• alkaline proteases include subtilisins, especially those derived from Bacillus (e.g., subtilisin, B. lentus subtilisin (i.e., GG36), B.
• amyloliquefaciens subtilisin i.e., BPN'
• subtilisin Carlsberg subtilisin Carlsberg
• subtilisin 309 subtilisin 147, PB92, and subtilisin 168
• Additional examples include those mutant proteases (i.e., protease variants) described in U.S. Pat. Nos. RE 34,606, 5,955,340, 5,700,676, 6,312,936, and 6,482,628, all of which are incorporated herein by reference.
• Additional proteases include, but are not limited to trypsin (e.g., of porcine or bovine origin), and the Fusarium protease described in WO 89/06270.
• a composition of the invention comprising at least one protease variant of the invention may also comprise at least one commercially available protease enzyme.
• Commercially available protease enzymes that find use in compositions of the invention include, but are not limited to, e.g., MAXATASE®, MAXACALTM, MAXAPEMTM,
• OPTICLEAN® OPTIMASE®, PROPERASE®, PURAFECT®, PURAFECT® OXP, PURAMAXTM, EXCELLASETM, and PURAFASTTM (Genencor); ALCALASE®, SAVINASE®, PRIMASE®, DURAZYMTM, POLARZYME®, OVOZYME®, KANNASE®, LIQUANASE®, NEUTRASE®, RELASE® and ESPERASE® (Novozymes); KAP Bacillus alkalophilus subtilisin with
• BLAPTM B lentus protease, BLAP X, and BLAP S (Henkel Mathanditgesellschaft auf Aktien, Duesseldorf, Germany). Additional proteases that may be included in compositions of the invention include those described in W095/23221, WO 92/21760, U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2008/0090747, and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,801,039, 5,340,735, 5,500,364, 5,855,625, RE 34,606, 5,955,340, 5,700,676, 6,312,936, and 6,482,628, and various other patents. Metalloproteases may be included in compositions of the invention. Such metalloproteases, include, but are not limited to, e.g., the neutral metalloprotease enzyme (nprE) described in WO 07/044993.
• nprE neutral metalloprotease enzyme
• the invention provides a composition (e.g., cleaning composition) comprising at least one protease variant of the invention and at least one lipase.
• Suitable lipases include, but are not limited to, e.g., those of bacterial or fungal origin. A chemically or genetically modified mutant of a lipase may be included in the composition. Examples of useful lipases include Humicola lanuginosa lipase (see, e.g., EP 258 068, and EP 305 216), Rhizomucor miehei lipase (see, e.g., EP 238 023), Candida lipase, such as C. antarctica lipase (e.g., C.
• antarctica lipase A or B see, e.g., EP 214 761
• Pseudomonas lipases such as P. alcaligenes lipase and P. pseudoalcaligenes lipase (see, e.g., EP 218 272), P. cepacia lipase (see, e.g., EP 331 376), P. stutzeri lipase (see, e.g., GB 1,372,034), P. fluorescens lipase, Bacillus lipase (e.g., B. subtilis lipase (Dartois et al., Biochem. Biophys.
• compositions e.g., cleaning compositions
• cloned lipases find use in compositions (e.g., cleaning compositions) of the present invention, including, but not limited to, e.g., Penicillium camembertii lipase (Yamaguchi et al., Gene 103:61-67 (1991)), Geotricum candidum lipase (Schimada et al., J. Biochem. 106:383-388 (1989)), and various Rhizopus lipases such as R. delemar lipase (Hass et al., Gene 109: 117-113 (1991)), a R. niveus lipase (Kugimiya et al., Biosci. Biotech. Biochem. 56:716-719 (1992)) and R. oryzae lipase.
• Penicillium camembertii lipase Yamaguchi et al., Gene
• lipolytic enzymes such as cutinases
• cutinases Other types of lipolytic enzymes, such as cutinases, also find use in one aspect of the present invention, including, but not limited to, e.g., the cutinase derived from Pseudomonas mendocina (see WO 88/09367), and the cutinase derived from Fusarium solani pisi (see WO 90/09446).
• lipases include commercially available lipases such as Ml LIPASETM, LUMA FASTTM, and LIPOMAXTM (Genencor); LIPOLASE® and LIPOLASE® ULTRA (Novozymes); and LIPASE PTM "Amano” (Amano Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Japan).
• the invention provides compositions (e.g., cleaning compositions) comprising at least one protease variant of the invention and at least one lipase that is present at a level from about 0.00001 % to about 10% of additional lipase by weight of the composition and the balance of one or more cleaning adjunct materials by weight of composition.
• a cleaning composition of the present invention comprises, in addition to at least one protease variant of the invention, at least one lipase at a level of about 0.0001 % to about 10%, about 0.001 % to about 5%, about 0.001 % to about 2%, or about 0.005% to about 0.5% lipase by weight of the composition.
• compositions comprising at least one variant of the invention and at least one amylase.
• Any amylase e.g., alpha and/or beta
• suitable amylases include, but are not limited to, e.g., those of bacterial or fungal origin.
• a chemically or genetically modified mutant of an amylase may be included.
• Amylases that find use in compositions of the invention include, but are not limited to, e.g., a-amylases obtained from B. licheniformis (see, e.g., GB 1,296,839).
• Commercially available amylases that find use in compositions of the invention include, but are not limited to, e.g.,
• STAINZYME ULTRA® and BANTM (Novozymes), as well as POWERASETM, RAPID ASE® and MAXAMYL® P (Genencor).
• the invention provides a cleaning composition comprising at least one protease variant or at least one amylase, wherein the amylase is present at a level from about 0.00001 % to about 10% of additional amylase by weight of the composition and the balance of one or more cleaning adjunct materials by weight of composition.
• the invention includes a cleaning composition comprising at least one protease variant and at least one amylase that is present at a level of about 0.0001 % to about 10%, about 0.001 % to about 5%, about 0.001 % to about 2%, about 0.005% to about 0.5% amylase by weight of the composition.
• any suitable cellulase may find used in a cleaning composition of the present invention.
• the invention provides a cleaning composition comprising at least one protease variant of the invention and one or at least one cellulase.
• Suitable cellulases include, but are not limited to, e.g., those of bacterial or fungal origin. A chemically or genetically modified mutant of a cellulase may be included in a composition of the invention.
• Suitable cellulases include, but are not limited to, e.g., Humicola insolens cellulases (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,435,307) and cellulases having color care benefits (see, e.g., EP 0 495 257).
• cellulases are known in the art.
• Commercially available cellulases that find use and may be included in a composition of the invention include, but are not limited to, e.g., CELLUZYME®, CAREZYME® (Novozymes), and KAC-500(B)TM (Kao Corporation), Puradax 7000L, Puradax HA 4000G (Genencor).
• cellulases are incorporated as portions or fragments of mature wild-type or variant cellulases, wherein a portion of the N-terminus is deleted (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,874,276).
• a cleaning composition of the invention comprises at least one protease variant of the invention and at least one cellulase at a level from about 0.00001 % to about 10% of additional cellulase by weight of the composition and the balance of one or more cleaning adjunct materials by weight of composition.
• the invention provides a cleaning composition comprising at least one protease variant of the invention and at least one cellulase at a level of about 0.0001 % to about 10%, about 0.001 % to about 5%, about 0.001 % to about 2%, about 0.005% to about 0.5% cellulase by weight of the composition.
• any mannanase suitable for use in detergent compositions also finds use in and thus may be included in a cleaning composition of the invention.
• the invention provides a cleaning composition comprising at least one protease variant of the invention and least one mannanase.
• Suitable mannanases include, but are not limited to, e.g., those of bacterial or fungal origin.
• a chemically or genetically modified mutant of a mannanase may be included in a composition of the invention.
• Various mannanases are known which are useful and may be included in a composition of invention (see, e.g., mannanases described in U.S. Pat. Nos.
• the invention provides a cleaning composition comprising at least one protease variant of the invention and at least one mannanase at a level from about 0.00001 % to about 10% of additional mannanase by weight of the composition and the balance of one or more cleaning adjunct materials by weight of composition.
• each mannanase is present at a level of about 0.0001 % to about 10%, about 0.001 % to about 5%, about 0.001 % to about 2%, or about 0.005% to about 0.5% mannanase by weight of the composition.
• a peroxidase may be used in combination with hydrogen peroxide or a source thereof (e.g., a percarbonate, perborate or persulfate) in a composition of the invention.
• An oxidase may be used in combination with oxygen in a composition of the invention.
• Both such types of enzymes are used for "solution bleaching" (i.e., to prevent transfer of a textile dye from a dyed fabric to another fabric when the fabrics are washed together in a wash liquor), preferably together with an enhancing agent (see, e.g., WO 94/12621 and WO 95/01426).
• Suitable peroxidases/oxidases that may be included in compositions of the invention include, but are not limited to, e.g., those of plant, bacterial, or fungal origin.
• a chemically or genetically modified mutant of a peroxidase or oxidase may be included in a composition of the invention.
• the invention provides a cleaning composition comprising at least one protease variant of the invention and at least one peroxidase and/or at least one oxidase enzyme.
• Each such peroxidase or oxidase may be present in the composition at a level from about 0.00001 % to about 10% of peroxidase or oxidase by weight of the composition and the balance of one or more cleaning adjunct materials by weight of composition.
• the invention provides a cleaning composition comprising at least one protease variant of the invention and at least one peroxidase and/or at least oxidase enzyme, wherein each such peroxidase or oxidase is present at a level of about 0.0001 % to about 10%, about 0.001 % to about 5%, about 0.001 % to about 2%, or about 0.005% to about 0.5% peroxidase or oxidase enzyme, respectively, by weight of the composition.
• the invention provides a composition (e.g., cleaning composition) comprising at least one protease variant of the invention and one or more additional enzymes find use, including but not limited to, e.g., one or more perhydrolases (see, e.g., WO 05/056782).
• a composition e.g., cleaning composition
• additional enzymes find use, including but not limited to, e.g., one or more perhydrolases (see, e.g., WO 05/056782).
• the invention provides a composition (e.g., cleaning composition) comprising at least one protease variant of the invention and one or more mixtures of the above-mentioned enzymes are encompassed, such as, e.g., one or more additional proteases, amylases, lipases, mannanases, and/or cellulases. Indeed, it is contemplated that various mixtures of these enzymes will find use in
• compositions of the present invention may both independently range to about 10%, the balance of the cleaning composition being one or more cleaning adjunct materials.
• the specific selection of a cleaning adjunct material is readily made by considering the surface or item (e.g., dishware item, tableware item, or fabric item) or fabric to be cleaned, and the desired form of the composition for the cleaning conditions during use (e.g., through the hand or automatic dishwashing detergent use).
• the invention provides a composition (e.g., cleaning composition) comprising at least one protease variant of the invention (and optionally at least one additional enzyme, if desired) and one or more cleaning adjunct materials.
• suitable cleaning adjunct materials include, but are not limited to, e.g., surfactants, builders, bleaches, bleach activators, bleach catalysts, other enzymes, enzyme stabilizing systems, chelants, optical brighteners, soil release polymers, dye transfer agents, dye transfer inhibiting agents, catalytic materials, hydrogen peroxide, sources of hydrogen peroxide, preformed peracids, polymeric dispersing agents, clay soil removal agents, structure elasticizing agents, dispersants, suds suppressors, dyes, perfumes, colorants, filler salts, hydrotropes, perfume, perfume capsule, photoactivators, fluorescers, fabric conditioners, fabric softeners, carriers, hydrotropes, processing aids, solvents, pigments, hydrolyzable surfactants, preservatives, anti-oxidants, anti-
• a composition e.g., cleaning composition
• a composition comprises an effective amount of at least one protease variant of the invention that is useful or effective for cleaning a surface in need of proteinaceous stain removal.
• cleaning compositions include cleaning compositions for such applications as cleaning hard surfaces, laundry, fabrics, dishes, tableware, or dishware (e.g., by hand or manual dishwashing or automatic dishwashing).
• the present invention provides fabric cleaning compositions, while in another aspect, the invention provides non-fabric cleaning compositions.
• the invention also provides cleaning compositions comprising at least one protease variant of the invention, wherein such cleaning compositions are suitable for personal care, including oral care (including dentifrices, toothpastes, mouthwashes, etc., as well as denture cleaning compositions), suitable for cleaning skin and hair, and suitable for cleaning eyeglasses.
• oral care including dentifrices, toothpastes, mouthwashes, etc., as well as denture cleaning compositions
• suitable for cleaning skin and hair and suitable for cleaning eyeglasses.
• the present invention encompass detergent compositions in any form (i.e., liquid, granular, bar, solid, semi-solid, gels, emulsions, tablets, capsules, etc.).
• the cleaning compositions of the invention preferably contain at least one surfactant and at least one builder compound, as well as one or more cleaning adjunct materials, including, e.g., one or more cleaning adjunct materials selected from the group of organic polymeric compounds, bleaching agents, additional enzymes, suds suppressors, dispersants, lime-soap dispersants, soil suspension and anti-redeposition agents, and corrosion inhibitors.
• laundry compositions also contain one or more softening agents (i.e., as additional cleaning adjunct materials). Additional exemplary laundry or fabric cleaning compositions and formulations to which one or more protease variants of the invention can be added are presented in the Examples below.
• compositions of the invention also find use as detergent additive products in solid or liquid form. Such additive products are intended to supplement and/or boost the performance of conventional detergent compositions and can be added at any stage of the cleaning process.
• the density of the laundry detergent composition ranges from about 400 to about 1200 g liter, while in other aspects, it ranges from about 500 to about 950 g/liter of composition measured at 20°C.
• the invention provides cleaning compositions, such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,605,458, comprising at least protease variant of the invention.
• the composition comprising at least one protease variant of the invention is a compact granular fabric cleaning composition, while in other aspects, the composition is a granular fabric cleaning composition useful in the laundering of colored fabrics; in another aspect, the composition is a granular fabric cleaning composition which provides softening through the wash capacity.
• the composition is a heavy duty liquid fabric cleaning composition.
• the invention provides a composition comprising at least one protease variant of the invention, wherein the composition is a fabric cleaning composition, such as one described in U.S. Pat. Nos.
• the invention provides hard surface cleaning compositions comprising at least one protease variant provided herein.
• Some such compositions comprise hard surface cleaning compositions such as those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,610,642, 6,376,450, and 6,376,450 that include at least one such protease variant.
• the invention includes hand dishwashing or automatic dishwashing detergent compositions comprising at least one protease variant provided herein.
• Some such compositions comprise hard surface cleaning compositions, such as those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,610,642 and 6,376,450.
• the invention provides cleaning compositions for use in manual or hand dishwashing or automatic dishwashing methods comprising at least one protease variant of the invention and/or at least one surfactant and/or at least one additional cleaning adjunct material selected from the group of organic polymeric compounds, suds enhancing agents, group II metal ions, solvents, hydrotropes, and additional enzymes.
• the cleaning compositions of the invention are formulated as compositions suitable for use in automatic dishwashing machine method(s)
• the compositions of the invention typically contain at least one surfactant and/or at least one builder compound and may contain one or more cleaning adjunct materials preferably selected from organic polymeric compounds, bleaching agents, additional enzymes, suds suppressors, dispersants, lime-soap dispersants, soil suspension and anti- redeposition agents and corrosion inhibitors.
• cleaning adjunct materials preferably selected from organic polymeric compounds, bleaching agents, additional enzymes, suds suppressors, dispersants, lime-soap dispersants, soil suspension and anti- redeposition agents and corrosion inhibitors.
• the invention provides oral care compositions comprising at least one protease variant of the present invention that are useful for oral care (e.g., cleaning teeth and dentures);
• compositions of oral care compositions that may be useful and included in such compositions include those described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,376,450.
• Compositions of the invention may further comprise cleaning adjunct materials and compounds described in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,376,450, 6,605,458, and 6,610,642, all of which are incorporated by reference herein.
• the cleaning compositions of the invention are formulated into any suitable form and prepared by any process chosen by the formulator, non-limiting examples of which are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,879,584, 5,691,297, 5,574,005, 5,569,645, 5,565,422, 5,516,448, 5,489,392, and 5,486,303, all of which are incorporated herein by reference.
• the pH of such composition is adjusted via the addition of a material such as monoethanolamine or an acidic material such as hydrogen chloride (HC1).
• adjuncts illustrated hereinafter are suitable for use in the instant cleaning compositions.
• these adjuncts are incorporated, e.g., to assist or enhance cleaning performance for treatment of the substrate to be cleaned or to modify the aesthetics of the cleaning composition as is the case with perfumes, colorants, dyes or the like. It is understood that such adjuncts are in addition to the protease variants of the present invention. The precise nature of these additional components, and levels of incorporation thereof, will depend on the physical form of the composition and the nature of the cleaning operation for which it is to be used.
• Suitable adjunct materials include, but are not limited to, e.g., surfactants, builders, chelating agents, dye transfer inhibiting agents, deposition aids, dispersants, additional enzymes, and enzyme stabilizers, catalytic materials, bleach activators, bleach boosters, hydrogen peroxide, sources of hydrogen peroxide, preformed peracids, polymeric dispersing agents, clay soil removal/anti-redeposition agents, brighteners, suds suppressors, dyes, perfumes, structure elasticizing agents, fabric softeners, carriers, hydrotropes, processing aids and/or pigments.
• suitable examples of such other adjuncts and levels of use are found in U.S. Patent Nos. 5,576,282, 6,306,812, and 6,326,348, incorporated by reference.
• the aforementioned adjunct ingredients may constitute the balance of the cleaning compositions of the present invention.
• cleaning compositions of the invention comprise at least one surfactant and/or a surfactant system, wherein the surfactant is selected from nonionic surfactants, anionic surfactants, cationic surfactants, ampholytic surfactants, zwitterionic surfactants, semi-polar nonionic surfactants and mixtures thereof.
• the surfactant is selected from nonionic surfactants, anionic surfactants, cationic surfactants, ampholytic surfactants, zwitterionic surfactants, semi-polar nonionic surfactants and mixtures thereof.
• the composition typically does not contain alkyl ethoxylated sulfate, as it is believed that such surfactant may be hydrolyzed by such compositions the acidic contents.
• the surfactant is present at a level of from about 0.1 % to about 60%, while in alternative aspects the level is from about 1 % to about 50%, while in still further aspects the level is from about 5% to about 40%, by weight of the cleaning composition.
• cleaning compositions of the invention comprise one or more detergent builders or builder systems.
• the cleaning compositions comprise at least about 1 %, from about 3% to about 60% or even from about 5% to about 40% builder by weight of the cleaning composition.
• Builders include, but are not limited to, e.g., alkali metal, ammonium and alkanolammonium salts of polyphosphates, alkali metal silicates, alkaline earth and alkali metal carbonates, aluminosilicates, polycarboxylate compounds, ether hydroxypolycarboxylates, copolymers of maleic anhydride with ethylene or vinyl methyl ether, 1, 3, 5-trihydroxy benzene-2, 4, 6-trisulphonic acid, and carboxymethyloxysuccinic acid, the various alkali metal, ammonium and substituted ammonium salts of polyacetic acids such as ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid and nitrilotriacetic acid, as well as polycarboxylates, such as mellitic acid, succinic acid, citric acid, oxydisuccinic acid, polymaleic acid, benzene 1,3,5-tricarboxylic acid, carboxymethyloxysuccinic acid, and
• the builders form water-soluble hardness ion complexes (e.g., sequestering builders), such as citrates and polyphosphates (e.g., sodium tripolyphosphate and sodium tripolyphospate hexahydrate, potassium tripolyphosphate, and mixed sodium and potassium
• water-soluble hardness ion complexes e.g., sequestering builders
• citrates and polyphosphates e.g., sodium tripolyphosphate and sodium tripolyphospate hexahydrate, potassium tripolyphosphate, and mixed sodium and potassium
• tripolyphosphate etc.
• any suitable builder will find use in the present invention, including those known in the art (see, e.g., EP 2 100 949).
• Some cleaning compositions of the invention comprise at least one chelating agent in addition to at least one protease variant.
• Suitable chelating agents include, but are not limited to, e.g., copper, iron, and/or manganese chelating agents and mixtures thereof.
• the cleaning compositions of the present invention comprise from about 0.1 % to about 15% or even from about 3% to about 10% chelating agent by weight of the subject cleaning composition.
• Some cleaning compositions provided herein comprise at least one deposition aid in addition to at least one protease variant.
• Suitable deposition aids include, but are not limited to, e.g., polyethylene glycol, polypropylene glycol, polycarboxylate, soil release polymers such as polytelephthalic acid, clays such as kaolinite, montmorillonite, atapulgite, illite, bentonite, halloysite, and mixtures thereof.
• anti-redeposition agents find use in one aspect of the present invention.
• non-ionic surfactants find use. These non-ionic surfactants also find use in preventing the re-deposition of soils.
• the anti-redeposition agent is a non-ionic surfactant as known in the art (see, e.g., EP 2 100 949).
• the cleaning compositions of the present invention include one or more dye transfer inhibiting agents.
• Suitable polymeric dye transfer inhibiting agents include, but are not limited to, polyvinylpyrrolidone polymers, polyamine N-oxide polymers, copolymers of N-vinylpyrrolidone and N-vinylimidazole, polyvinyloxazolidones and polyvinylimidazoles or mixtures thereof.
• the cleaning compositions of the present invention comprise from about 0.0001 % to about 10%, from about 0.01 % to about 5%, or even from about 0.1 % to about 3% by weight of the cleaning composition.
• silicates are included within the compositions of the present invention.
• sodium silicates e.g., sodium disilicate, sodium metasilicate, and crystalline
• silicates find use.
• silicates are present at a level of from about 1 % to about 20%.
• silicates are present at a level of from about 5% to about 15% by weight of the composition.
• the cleaning compositions of the invention also comprise dispersants.
• Suitable water-soluble organic materials include, but are not limited to, e.g., the homo- or co-polymeric acids or their salts, in which the polycarboxylic acid comprises at least two carboxyl radicals separated from each other by not more than two carbon atoms.
• the enzymes used in the cleaning compositions are stabilized any suitable technique.
• the enzymes employed herein are stabilized by the presence of water-soluble sources of calcium and/or magnesium ions in the finished compositions that provide such ions to the enzymes.
• the enzyme stabilizers include oligosaccharides, polysaccharides, and inorganic divalent metal salts, including alkaline earth metals, such as calcium salts. It is contemplated that various techniques for enzyme stabilization will find use in the present invention.
• the enzymes employed herein are stabilized by the presence of water-soluble sources of zinc (II), calcium (II) and/or magnesium (II) ions in the finished compositions that provide such ions to the enzymes, as well as other metal ions (e.g., barium (II), scandium (II), iron (II), manganese ( ⁇ ), aluminum (III), Tin (II), cobalt (II), copper (II), nickel (II), and oxo vanadium (IV). Chlorides and sulfates also find use in one aspect of the present invention.
• water-soluble sources of zinc (II), calcium (II) and/or magnesium (II) ions in the finished compositions that provide such ions to the enzymes, as well as other metal ions (e.g., barium (II), scandium (II), iron (II), manganese ( ⁇ ), aluminum (III), Tin (II), cobalt (II), copper (II), nickel (II), and ox
• Suitable oligosaccharides and polysaccharides are known in the art (see, e.g., WO 07/145964).
• reversible protease inhibitors also find use, such as boron- containing compounds (e.g., borate, phenyl boronic acid, 4-formyl phenyl boronic acid, other phenyl boronic acid derivatives, peptide inhibitors, and the like) and/or a tripeptide aldehyde find use in compositions of the invention to further improve stability, as desired.
• one or more bleaches, bleach activators, and/or bleach catalysts are included in the compositions of the invention.
• the cleaning compositions of the invention comprise inorganic and/or organic bleaching compound(s).
• Inorganic bleaches include, but are not limited to perhydrate salts (e.g., perborate, percarbonate, perphosphate, persulfate, and persilicate salts).
• inorganic perhydrate salts are alkali metal salts.
• inorganic perhydrate salts are included as the crystalline solid, without additional protection, although in some other aspects, the salt is coated. Any suitable salt known in the art finds use in the compositions of the invention (see, e.g., EP 2 100 949).
• bleach activators are used in the compositions of the invention.
• Bleach activators are typically organic peracid precursors that enhance the bleaching action in the course of cleaning at temperatures of 60°C and below.
• Bleach activators suitable for use herein include compounds which, under perhydrolysis conditions, give aliphatic peroxycarboxylic acids having preferably from about 1 to about 10 carbon atoms, in particular from about 2 to about 4 carbon atoms, and/or optionally substituted perbenzoic acid. Additional bleach activators are known in the art and find use in the composition of the invention (see, e.g., EP 2 100 949).
• the cleaning compositions of the invention further comprise at least one bleach catalyst.
• the manganese triazacyclononane and related complexes find use, as well as cobalt, copper, manganese, and iron complexes. Additional bleach catalysts find use in the present invention (see, e.g., U.S. Pat Nos. 4,246,612, 5,227,084, and 4,810410; WO 99/06521 ; and EP 2 100 949).
• the cleaning compositions of the invention comprise one or more catalytic metal complexes.
• a metal-containing bleach catalyst finds use.
• the metal bleach catalyst comprises a catalyst system comprising a transition metal cation of defined bleach catalytic activity (e.g., copper, iron, titanium, ruthenium, tungsten, molybdenum, or manganese cations), an auxiliary metal cation having little or no bleach catalytic activity (e.g., zinc or aluminum cations), and a sequestrate having defined stability constants for the catalytic and auxiliary metal cations, particularly ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, ethylenediaminetetra (methylenephosphonic acid) and water-soluble salts thereof are used (see, e.g., U.S.
• the cleaning compositions of the invention are catalyzed by means of a manganese compound.
• a manganese compound Such compounds and levels of use are well known in the art (see, e.g., U.S. Patent No. 5,576,282).
• cobalt bleach catalysts find use and are included in the cleaning compositions of the invention.
• Various cobalt bleach catalysts are known in the art (see, e.g., U.S. Patent Nos. 5,597,936 and 5,595,967) and are readily prepared by known procedures.
• the cleaning compositions of the invention include a transition metal complex of a macropolycyclic rigid ligand (MRL).
• MRL macropolycyclic rigid ligand
• the compositions and cleaning processes provided by the invention are adjusted to provide on the order of at least one part per hundred million of the active MRL species in the aqueous washing medium, and in one aspect, provide from about 0.005 ppm to about 25 ppm, from about 0.05 ppm to about 10 ppm, and from about 0.1 ppm to about 5 ppm, of the MRL in the wash liquor.
• transition-metals in the instant transition-metal bleach catalyst include, but are not limited to, e.g., manganese, iron and chromium.
• Preferred MRLs also include, but are not limited to, e.g., special ultra-rigid ligands that are cross-bridged (e.g., 5,12-diethyl- l,5,8,12- tetraazabicyclo(6.6.2)hexadecane).
• Suitable transition metal MRLs are readily prepared by known procedures (see, e.g., WO 2000/32601 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,225,464).
• the invention provides an automatic dishwashing detergent composition formulated as a detergent tablet.
• a detergent tablet comprises at least one protease variant of the invention and a builder, such as, e.g., a builder salt.
• Some such tablets have an alkalinity of at least equivalent to 3 grams (g) of sodium hydroxide per 100 grams of the tablet composition and a density of at least 1.4 grams/cubic centimeter.
• the builder salt can comprise a mixture of a silicate salt and a phosphate salt, preferably with more silicate (e.g., sodium metasilicate) than phosphate (e.g., sodium tripolyphosphate).
• silicate e.g., sodium metasilicate
• phosphate e.g., sodium tripolyphosphate
• Some such tablets are free of surfactant materials and are especially adapted for use in automatic dishwashing machines.
• the cleaning compositions of the present invention comprise metal care agents.
• Metal care agents are useful in preventing and/or reducing the tarnishing, corrosion, and/or oxidation of metals, including aluminum, stainless steel, and non-ferrous metals (e.g., silver and copper). Suitable metal care agents include those described in EP 2 100 949, WO 9426860, and WO 94/26859). In some such cleaning compositions, the metal care agent is a zinc salt. Some such cleaning compositions comprise from about 0.1 % to about 5% by weight of one or more metal care agent.
• the cleaning compositions of the present invention are formulated into any suitable form and prepared by any process chosen by the formulator, non-limiting examples of which are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,879,584, 5,691,297, 5,574,005, 5,569,645, 5,516,448, 5,489,392, and 5,486,303, all of which are incorporated herein by reference.
• the pH of such composition is adjusted via the addition of an acidic material such as hydrogen chloride (HC1).
• the cleaning compositions disclosed herein find use in cleaning a situs (e.g., a surface, dishware, tableware, or fabric). Typically, at least a portion of the situs is contacted with a present cleaning composition of the invention in neat form or diluted in a wash liquor, and then the situs is optionally washed and/or rinsed.
• "washing" includes, but is not limited to, e.g., scrubbing and mechanical agitation.
• the cleaning compositions are employed at concentrations of from about 500 ppm to about 15,000 ppm in solution.
• the wash solvent is water
• the water temperature typically ranges from about 5°C to about 90°C and when the situs comprises a fabric, the water to fabric mass ratio is typically from about 1 :1 to about 30:1.
• compositions of the invention described herein and throughout, including, e.g., cleaning compositions can be formulated into any suitable form and prepared by any suitable process chosen by the formulator (see, e.g., US Patent Nos. 5,879,584, 5,691,297, 5,574,005, 5,569,645, 5,565,422, 5,516,448, 5,489,392, 5,486,303, 4,515,705, 4,537,706, 4,515,707, 4,550,862, 4,561,998, 4,597,898, 4,968,451, 5,565,145, 5,929,022, 6,294,514 and 6,376,445).
• the cleaning compositions of the invention are provided in unit dose form, including tablets, capsules, sachets, pouches, and multi-compartment pouches.
• the unit dose format is designed to provide controlled release of the ingredients within a multi-compartment pouch (or other unit dose format). Suitable unit dose and controlled release formats are known in the art (see, e.g., EP 2 100 949, WO 02/102955, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,765,916 and 4,972,017, and WO 04/111178 for materials suitable for use in unit dose and controlled release formats).
• the unit dose form is provided by tablets wrapped with a water-soluble film or water-soluble pouches.
• Various formats for unit doses are provided in EP 2 100 947, and are known in the art.
• the invention provides methods for cleaning or washing an item or surface (e.g., hard surface) in need of cleaning, including, but not limited to, e.g., methods for cleaning or washing a dishware item, a tableware item, a fabric item, a laundry item, personal care item, eye glass, etc., or the like, and methods for cleaning or washing a hard or soft surface, such as, e.g., a hard surface of an item.
• the invention provides a method for cleaning an item, object, or surface in need of cleaning, the method comprising contacting the item or surface (or a portion of the item or surface desired to be cleaned) with a protease variant of any of the invention or a composition of the invention for a sufficient time and/or under conditions suitable or effective to clean the item, object, or surface to a desired degree.
• Some such methods further comprise rinsing the item, object, or surface with water.
• the cleaning composition is a dishwashing detergent composition and the item or object to be cleaned is a dishware item or tableware item.
• a dishware item is a dish item generally used in serving or eating food.
• a dishware item can be, but is not limited to, e.g., a dish, plate, cup, bowl, etc., and the like.
• Tableware is a broader term that includes, but is not limited, to, e.g., dishes, cutlery, knives, forks, spoons, chopsticks, glassware, pitchers, sauce boats, drinking vessels, etc., and the like; a tableware item includes any of these or similar items for serving or eating food.
• the cleaning composition is an automatic dishwashing detergent composition or a hand dishwashing detergent composition and the item or object to be cleaned is a dishware or tableware item.
• the cleaning composition is a laundry detergent composition, such as, e.g., a power laundry detergent composition or a liquid laundry detergent composition, and the item to be cleaned is a fabric item.
• the invention provides methods for cleaning or washing a fabric item optionally in need of cleaning or washing, respectively.
• Some such methods comprise providing a composition comprising the protease variant (such as, but not limited to, e.g., a fabric or laundry cleaning composition) and a fabric item or laundry item in need of cleaning, and contacting the fabric item or laundry item (or a portion of the item desired to be cleaned) with the composition under conditions sufficient or effective to clean or wash the fabric or laundry item to a desired degree.
• a composition comprising the protease variant (such as, but not limited to, e.g., a fabric or laundry cleaning composition) and a fabric item or laundry item in need of cleaning, and contacting the fabric item or laundry item (or a portion of the item desired to be cleaned) with the composition under conditions sufficient or effective to clean or wash the fabric or laundry item to a desired degree.
• the invention provides a method for cleaning or washing an item or surface (e.g., hard surface) optionally in need of cleaning, the method comprising providing an item or surface to be cleaned or washed and contacting the item or surface (or a portion of the item or surface desired to be cleaned or washed) with at least one protease variant of the invention or a composition of the invention comprising at least one such protease variant for a sufficient time and/or under conditions sufficient or effective to clean or wash the item or surface to a desired degree.
• an item or surface e.g., hard surface
• the method comprising providing an item or surface to be cleaned or washed and contacting the item or surface (or a portion of the item or surface desired to be cleaned or washed) with at least one protease variant of the invention or a composition of the invention comprising at least one such protease variant for a sufficient time and/or under conditions sufficient or effective to clean or wash the item or surface to a desired degree.
• compositions include, but are not limited to, e.g., a cleaning composition or detergent composition of the invention (including, but not limited to, e.g., hand dishwashing detergent composition, hand dishwashing cleaning composition, laundry detergent or fabric detergent or laundry or fabric cleaning composition, liquid laundry detergent, liquid laundry cleaning composition, powder laundry detergent composition, powder laundry cleaning composition, automatic dishwashing detergent composition, laundry booster cleaning or detergent composition, laundry cleaning additive, and laundry pre-spotter composition, etc.).
• the method can be repeated one or more times, particularly if additional cleaning or washing is desired.
• the method optionally further comprises allowing the item or surface to remain in contact with the at least one protease variant or composition for a period of time sufficient or effective to clean or wash the item or surface to the desired degree.
• Some such methods further comprise rinsing the item or surface with water.
• Some such methods further comprise contacting the item or surface with at least one protease variant of the invention or a composition of the invention again and allowing the item or surface to remain in contact with the at least one protease variant or composition for a period of time sufficient to clean or wash the item or surface to the desired degree.
• the cleaning composition is a dishwashing detergent composition and the item to be cleaned is a dishware or tableware item.
• the cleaning composition is an automatic dishwashing detergent composition or a hand dishwashing detergent composition and the item to be cleaned is a dishware or tableware item.
• the cleaning composition is a laundry detergent composition and the item to be cleaned is a fabric item.
• the invention provides a method of cleaning a tableware or dishware item in an automatic dishwashing machine, the method comprising providing an automatic dishwashing machine, placing an amount of an automatic dishwashing composition comprising at least one protease variant of the invention or a composition of the invention sufficient to clean the tableware or dishware item in the machine (e.g., by placing the composition in an appropriate or provided detergent compartment or dispenser in the machine), putting a dishware or tableware item in the machine, and operating the machine so as to clean the tableware or dishware item (e.g., as per the manufacturer's instructions).
• Such method can include any automatic dishwashing composition described herein, which comprises, but is not limited to, e.g., any protease variant described herein.
• the amount of automatic dishwashing composition to be used can be readily determined according to manufacturer's instructions or suggestions and any form of automatic dishwashing composition comprising at least one protease variant of the invention (e.g., liquid, powder, solid, gel, table, etc.), including any described herein, may be employed.
• any form of automatic dishwashing composition comprising at least one protease variant of the invention (e.g., liquid, powder, solid, gel, table, etc.), including any described herein, may be employed.
• the invention provides a method for cleaning a surface, item or object optionally in need of cleaning, the method comprises contacting the item or surface (or a portion of the item or surface desired to be cleaned) with at least one protease variant of the invention or a cleaning composition of the invention in neat form or diluted in a wash liquor for a sufficient time and/or under conditions sufficient or effective to clean or wash the item or surface to a desired degree.
• the surface, item, or object may then be (optionally) washed and/or rinsed if desired.
• washing includes, but is not limited to, e.g., scrubbing and mechanical agitation.
• the cleaning compositions are employed at concentrations of from about 500 ppm to about 15,000 ppm in solution (e.g., aqueous solution).
• the wash solvent is water
• the water temperature typically ranges from about 5°C to about 90°C and when the situs comprises a fabric, the water to fabric mass ratio is typically from about 1 : 1 to about 30: 1.
• the invention provides a method of cleaning a laundry or fabric item in an washing machine, the method comprising providing an washing machine, placing an amount of a laundry detergent composition comprising at least one protease variant of the invention sufficient to clean the laundry or fabric item in the machine (e.g., by placing the composition in an appropriate or provided detergent compartment or dispenser in the machine), putting the laundry or fabric item in the machine, and operating the machine so as to clean the tableware or dishware item (e.g., as per the manufacturer' s instructions).
• Such method can include any laundry washing detergent composition described herein, which comprises, but is not limited to, e.g., any protease variant described herein.
• the amount of laundry detergent composition to be used can be readily determined according to manufacturer's instructions or suggestions and any form of laundry detergent composition comprising at least one protease variant of the invention (e.g., solid, powder, liquid, tablet, gel, etc.), including any described herein, may be employed.
• any form of laundry detergent composition comprising at least one protease variant of the invention (e.g., solid, powder, liquid, tablet, gel, etc.), including any described herein, may be employed.
• the invention provides a method for cleaning an item, object, or surface in need of cleaning, the method comprising contacting the item, object, or surface with (i) a variant (or polypeptide as in the third aspect) of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, or ninth aspect of the invention or (ii) a composition of the seventeenth aspect of the invention.
• a method of the eighteenth aspect of the invention may further comprise rinsing the item, object, or surface with water.
• the invention provides a method for cleaning an item or hard surface, the method comprising contacting at least a portion of the item or hard surface to be cleaned with (i) a variant (or polypeptide as in the third aspect) of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, or ninth aspect of the invention or (ii) a composition of the seventeenth aspect of the invention for a sufficient time and/or under conditions sufficient or effective to clean or wash the item or hard surface to a desired degree, and optionally comprising rinsing the item or hard surface with water.
• the invention provides a method of treating and/or cleaning a surface or fabric comprising the steps of optionally washing and/or rinsing said surface or fabric, contacting said surface or fabric with (i) a variant (or polypeptide as in the third aspect) of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, or ninth aspect of the invention or (ii) a composition of the seventeenth aspect of the invention, and then optionally washing and/or rinsing said surface or fabric.
• protease variant or polypeptide of the invention in a detergent composition, including, but not limited to, in a laundry and/or dishwashing detergent composition.
• OD 2 8o optical density at 280 nm
• OD 6 oo optical density at 600 nm
• A405 absorbance at 405 nm
• Vmax the maximum initial velocity of an enzyme catalyzed reaction
• PAGE polyacrylamide gel
• PBS phosphate buffered saline [150 mM NaCl, 10 mM sodium phosphate buffer, pH 7.2]); PBST (PBS+0.25% TWEEN®-20); PEG (polyethylene glycol); PCR (polymerase chain reaction); RT-PCR (reverse transcription PCR); SDS (sodium dodecyl sulfate); Tris
• the enzymes levels are expressed by pure enzyme by weight of the total composition and unless otherwise specified, the detergent ingredients are expressed by weight of the total compositions.
• the abbreviated component identifications therein have the following meanings:
• NaC16-17HSAS Sodium C1 .17 highly soluble alkyl sulfate
• TAS Sodium tallow alkyl sulphate
• CxyAS Sodium Ci x - Ci y alkyl sulfate
• Ci x - Ci y predominantly linear primary alcohol condensed with an average of z moles of ethylene oxide
• Nonionic Mixed ethoxylated/propoxylated fatty alcohol e.g. Plurafac LF404 being an alcohol with an average degree of ethoxylation of 3.8 and an average degree of propoxylation of 4.5.
• Zeolite A Hydrated aluminosilicate of formula Nai 2(A102Si02)i 2-27H20
• SKS-6 Crystalline layered silicate of formula 5-Na2Si205
• MA/AA Random copolymer of 4: 1 acrylate/maleate, average molecular
• AA Sodium polyacrylate polymer of average molecular weight (MW)
• Polycarboxylate Copolymer comprising mixture of carboxylated monomers such as acrylate, maleate and methyacrylate with a MW ranging between
• Diamine Dimethyl aminopropyl amine; 1 ,6-hezane diamine; 1,3-propane diamine; 2-methyl-l ,5-pentane diamine; 1,3-pentanediamine; 1- methyl-diaminopropane
• Paraffin Sulfonate A Paraffin oil or wax in which some of the hydrogen atoms have been replaced by sulfonate groups
• Aldose oxidase Oxidase enzyme sold under the tradename Aldose Oxidase by
• Amylase A suitable amylolytic enzyme, such as those sold under the
• Lipase A suitable lipolytic enzyme such as those sold under the tradenames
• Cellulase A suitable cellulytic enzyme such as those sold under the tradenames
• Pectin Lyase A suitable pectin lyase, such as those sold under the tradenames
• PVNO Polyvinylpyridine-N-Oxide, with an average molecular weight of
• PVPVI Copolymer of vinylimidazole and vinylpyrrolidone, with an average molecular weight of 20,000
• Brightener 1 Disodium 4,4'-bis(2-sulphostyryl)biphenyl
• Silicone antifoam Polydimethylsiloxane foam controller with siloxane-oxyalkylene copolymer as dispersing agent with a ratio of said foam controller to said dispersing agent of 10: 1 to 100: 1
• SRP 1 Anionically end capped poly esters
• PEG X Polyethylene glycol of a molecular weight of x
• PVP K60® Vinylpyrrolidone homopolymer (average MW 160,000)
• Isachem® AS A branched alcohol alkyl sulphate from Enichem
• Silicone suds suppresser mixture of Silicone oil and Silica from Dow Corning
• Kaolinite Kaolinite, montmorillonite, atapulgite, illite, bentonite, halloysite
• NA and WE North American (NA) and Western European (WE) heavy duty liquid laundry (HDL) detergents
• heat inactivation of the enzymes present in commercially-available detergents is performed by placing pre-weighed liquid detergent (in a glass bottle) in a water bath at 95°C for 2 hours.
• the incubation time for heat inactivation of NA and WE auto dish washing (ADW) detergents is 8 hours. Both un-heated and heated detergents are assayed within 5 minutes of dissolving the detergent to accurately determine percentage deactivated. Enzyme activity is tested by the AAPF assay.
• compositions of the detergents used in the assays in Part I Examples are shown in Table 1-3.
• BPN' variant protein samples were added to the detergent compositions as described in Part I Example 1 to assay for the various properties tested.
• liquid laundry detergent compositions suitable for top-loading automatic washing machines (1, 2 & 4) and front loading washing machines (3).
• Table 1-3 Composition of Detergents Used in the Assays to Test BPN' Variants
• Ci6-i7 Branched alkyl sulfate 1.7 1.29 3.09
• Ci 2 dimethylamine oxide 0.6 0.64 1.03
• x from 3 to 8, or sulphated or sulphonated
• Random graft co-polymer 1 1.46 0.5
• Random graft copolymer is a polyvinyl acetate grafted polyethylene oxide copolymer having a polyethylene oxide backbone and multiple polyvinyl acetate side chains.
• the molecular weight of the polyethylene oxide backbone is about 6000 and the weight ratio of the polyethylene oxide to polyvinyl acetate is about 40 to 60 and no more than 1 grafting point per 50 ethylene oxide units.
• this assay was started using filtered B. subtilis bacterial culture supernatant from microtiter plates grown 3-4 days at 33-37°C with shaking at 230-250 rpm and humidified aeration. A fresh 96-well flat bottom microtiter plate (MTP) was used for the assay. First, 100 ⁇ ⁇ of 0.25 N HC1 was placed in each well. Then, 25 ⁇ of filtered culture broth was added. The light scattering/absorbance at 405 nm (use 5 sec mixing mode in the plate reader) was then determined in order to provide the "blank" reading. For the test, 100 ⁇ /well of 30% (w/v) trichloroacetic acid (TCA) was placed in the plates and incubated for 10 minutes at room temperature. The light
• a standard curve can be created by calibrating the TCA readings with AAPF assays of clones with known conversion factors.
• the TCA results are linear with respect to protein concentration from 250 to 2500 micrograms protein per ml (ppm) and can thus be plotted directly against enzyme performance for the purpose of choosing good-performing variants.
• the reagent solutions used were: 100 mM Tris HCl, pH 8.6, containing 0.005% TWEEN®-80 (Tris dilution buffer); 100 mM Tris buffer, pH 8.6, containing 10 mM CaCl 2 and 0.005% TWEEN®-80 (Tris/Ca buffer); and 160 mM suc-AAPF-pNA in DMSO (suc-AAPF-pNA stock solution) (Sigma: S-7388).
• suc-AAPF-pNA working solution 1 ml suc-AAPF-pNA stock solution was added to 100 ml Tris/Ca buffer and mixed well for at least 10 seconds.
• Blood, milk and ink (BMI) stained microswatches of 5.5 millimeter circular diameter were obtained from CFT. Before cutting the swatches, the fabric (EMPA 116) was washed with water. One microswatch was placed in each well of a 96-well non-binding microtiter plate (Corning 3641).
• the detergents used for the assays included Detergent Composition 1, Detergent Composition 2, and Detergent Composition 4.
• the detergents were diluted in Milli-Q (deionized) water to a working strength concentration of 0.788 g/L. These detergents were buffered with 5 mM HEPES pH 8.2 or pH 7.2, which upon addition to detergent, buffers at pH 8 or pH 7, respectively.
• the master dilution was prepared from the culture supernatants at 8 ⁇ g/mL, where the approximate enzyme concentrations of the culture supernatants and BPN'-v3 or BPN' -v36 parent controls were determined using the AAPF protease activity assay, basing the concentration on a purified BPN' -v3 or BPN' -v36 standard of known concentration.
• the MTP was sealed with tape and placed in the iEMS
• incubator/shaker pre-set at 16°C in a refrigerated dairy case or at 32°C on the benchtop for 20 minutes, with agitation at 1400 rpm.
• the sealing tape was removed from each plate and 125 ⁇ (150 ⁇ if pipetting by hand for smaller screens) of the solution from each well was transferred into a fresh MTP (Corning 9017).
• the new MTP containing 125 ⁇ - 150 ⁇ of solution/well was read at 600 nm (with 5 sec mixing mode in the plate reader) using a MTP SpectraMax reader (type 340; Molecular Devices). Blank controls containing a microswatch and detergent but no enzyme were also included.
• CS38 aged egg yolk with pigment stained cotton microswatches of 5.5 millimeter circular diameter were obtained from CFT. These swatches were not pre-rinsed in water.
• One microswatch was placed in each well of a 96-well non-binding microtiter plate (Corning 3641).
• Detergent Composition 4 was diluted in Milli-Q (deionized) water to a working strength concentration of 0.788 g/L.
• the detergents were buffered with 5 mM HEPES pH 8.2 which upon addition to detergent, buffers at pH 8. Additionally 6 grains per gallon (gpg) water hardness (3: 1 Ca:Mg - CaCl 2 : MgCl 2 -6H 2 0); was added.
• the detergent solution was pre-equilibrated in an ice-water bath for 16°C assays (room temperature for 32°C assays) and pumped into a circulating reservoir (Beckman FX). Then, 185 ⁇ of the desired detergent solution was added to each well of the MTP, containing microswatches. To this mixture, 15 ⁇ of the diluted enzyme master dilution solution was added, providing an approximate enzyme concentration of 0.6 ⁇ g/mL in the reaction.
• the master dilution was prepared from the culture supernatants at 8 ⁇ g/mL, where the approximate enzyme concentration of the culture supernatants and BPN' -v3 or BPN'-v36 parent control was determined using the AAPF protease activity assay, basing the concentration on a purified BPN'-v3 or BPN'-v36 standard of known concentration.
• the MTP was sealed with tape and placed in the iEMS incubator/shaker (Thermo/Labsystems) pre-set at 16°C in a refrigerated dairy case or at 32°C on the benchtop for 30 minutes, with agitation at 1400 rpm.
• the sealing tape was removed from each plate and 125 ⁇ (150 ⁇ if pipetting by hand for smaller screens) of the solution from each well was transferred into a fresh MTP (Corning 9017).
• the new MTP containing 125 ⁇ - 150 ⁇ of solution/well was read at 405 nm (with 5 sec mixing mode in the plate reader) using a MTP SpectraMax reader (type 340; Molecular Devices). Blank controls containing a microswatch and detergent but no enzyme were also included. The absorbance value obtained was corrected for the blank value (substrate without enzyme), providing a measure of hydrolytic activity. For each sample (variant), the performance index was calculated as described below.
• Warwick Equest scrubbed grass on woven cotton swatches were obtained from Warwick. These swatches were cut into 5.5 millimeter circular diameter microswatches using a custom made 96-well punch machine that places one microswatch in each well of a 96-well non-binding microliter plate (Corning 3641). After cutting of the swatches, the fabric was washed in the wells (pre-rinsed) with 100 ⁇ per well of 50% working strength Detergent Composition 4 diluted in water. After 20 minutes of pre- rinsing the 100 ⁇ of 50% detergent rinse was removed carefully pipetting by hand. Detergent
• Composition 4 was diluted in Milli-Q (deionized) water to a working strength concentration of 0.788 g L. These detergents were buffered with 5 mM HEPES pH 8.2, which upon addition to detergent, buffers at pH 8. Additionally 6 grains per gallon (gpg) water hardness (3: 1 Ca:Mg - CaCl 2 : MgCl 2 -6H 2 0); was added. The detergent solution was pre-equilibrated in an ice-water bath for 16°C assays (room temperature for 32°C assays). Then, 180 ⁇ of the desired detergent solution was added to each well of the MTP containing the microswatches, immediately after the pre -rinsing was complete.
• Milli-Q deionized
• the master dilution solution was prepared from the culture supernatants at 8 ⁇ g/mL where the approximate enzyme concentration of the culture supernatants and BPN' -v36 parent control was determined using the AAPF protease assay basing the concentration on a purified BPN' -v36 standard of known concentration.
• the MTP was sealed with tape and placed in the iEMS incubator/shaker
• Thermo/Labsystems pre-set at 16°C in a refrigerated dairy case or at 32°C on the benchtop for 30 minutes, with agitation at 1400 rpm. Following incubation under the appropriate conditions, the sealing tape was removed from each plate and 125 ⁇ (150 ⁇ if pipetting by hand for smaller screens) of the solution from each well was transferred into a fresh MTP (Corning 9017). The new MTP containing 125 ⁇ - 150 ⁇ of solution/well was read at both 430 nm and 670 nm (with 5 sec mixing mode in the plate reader) using a MTP SpectraMax reader (type 340; Molecular Devices). Blank controls containing a microswatch and detergent but no enzyme were also included. The absorbance value obtained was corrected for the blank value (substrate without enzyme), providing a measure of hydrolytic activity. For each sample (variant), the performance index was calculated as described below.
• the stability of protease variants was determined in the presence of 40% concentrated Detergent Composition 3 diluted in water.
• the reagents used were Detergent Composition 3 diluted to 50% in Milli-Q water, 10 mM MES 0.01 % TWEEN®-80 pH 5.8 master dilution buffer, AAPF reagents: see protocol AAPF assay.
• the equipment used was F-bottom MTP (Corning 9017) for dilution of diluted enzyme into detergent as well as for suc-AAPF-pNA plates, Biomek FX (Beckman Coulter), Spectramax Plus 384 MTP Reader (Molecular Devices), iEMS Incubator/Shaker (1 mm amplitude) (Thermo Electron Corporation), sealing tape: Nunc (236366), circulating reservoir (Beckman Fx).
• Detergent Composition 3 was initially diluted to 50% in water. This detergent was kept at room temperature and cycled through the circulating reservoir. The iEMS incubators/shakers
• AAPF assay was modified such that 20 ⁇ of sample from the step above was added to 190 ⁇ of suc-AAPF-pNA working solution.
• LAS linear alkylbenzene sulfonate, specifically, sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate-DOBS
• di- sodium EDTA was measured after incubation under defined conditions and the residual activity was determined using the AAPF assay.
• the reagents used were dodecyllbenzene sulfonate, sodium salt (DOBS, Sigma No. D-2525), TWEEN®-80 (Sigma No. P-8074), di-sodium EDTA (Siegfried Handel No. 164599-02), HEPES (Sigma No.
• V- or U-bottom MTPs as dilution plates (Greiner 651101 and 650161, respectively), F-bottom MTPs (Corning 9017) for unstressed and LAS/EDTA buffer as well as for suc-AAPF-pNA plates, Biomek FX (Beckman Coulter), Spectramax Plus 384 MTP Reader (Molecular Devices), iEMS Incubator/Shaker (1 mm amplitude) (Thermo Electron Corporation), and Nunc sealing tape (236366).
• the iEMS incubator/shaker (Thermo/Labsystems) was set at 29°C. Culture supernatants were diluted into plates containing unstressed buffer to a concentration of ⁇ 25 ppm (master dilution plate). Then, 20 ⁇ of sample from the master dilution plate was added to plates containing 180 ⁇ unstressed buffer to give a final incubation concentration of 2.5 ppm. The contents were mixed and kept at room temperature and an AAPF assay was performed on this plate.
• the performance index provides a comparison of the performance of a variant (actual value) and a standard or reference protease enzyme (theoretical value) at the same protein concentration.
• the theoretical values can be calculated using the parameters of a performance dose response curve (i.e. using a Langmuir equation to generate the performance curve) of the standard/reference protease.
• the PI identifies winners (e.g., variants having enhanced proteolytic activity compared to that of the standard/reference protease) as well as variants that may be less desirable for use under certain circumstances (e.g., variants having proteolytic activity lower than the proteolytic activity of the standard/reference protease).
• protease variants of the invention having performance index values lower than that of a reference or standard protease are nevertheless useful in the applications and methods described herein.
• protease variants of the invention having performance index values lower than that of a reference or standard protease have proteolytic activity and thus are useful in the compositions of the invention, such as, but not limited to, e.g., cleaning compositions (including, but not limited, to, e.g., detergent cleaning compositions) for cleaning a variety of surfaces and items, including, but not limited to, e.g., laundry, fabrics, and dishware, and in personal care applications and compositions as described elsewhere herein; such protease variants are also useful in fabric and home care products and compositions and in non-fabric and home care products and compositions described elsewhere herein and in methods of the invention, including, but not limited, to, e.g., cleaning methods, methods for personal care, etc., described elsewhere herein.
• non-deleterious variants have a PI >0.05
• deleterious variants have a PI less than or equal to 0.05
• combinable variants are those for which the variant has performance index values greater than or equal to 0.2 for at least one property, and >0.05 for all properties.
• Combinable variants are those that can be combined to deliver proteins with appropriate performance indices for one or more desired properties.
• subtilase or protease to be engineered has an amino acid different from that of subtilisin BPN' at one or more particular positions, these data find use in identifying amino acid substitutions that alter the desired properties by identifying the best choices for substitutions, including substitutions of the BPN' wild type amino acid.
• BPN' -v3 (BPN' protease containing G097A-G128A-Y217Q substitutions) expression cassette used for combinatorial library construction was generated using the BPN' expression cassette, which comprises the aprE-BPN' hybrid leader sequence (i.e., signal sequence), BPN' pro and BPN' mature sequence from B. amyloliquefaciens.
• the DNA sequence is shown below as SEQ ID NO: l and encodes the BPN' precursor protein shown below as SEQ ID NO: 168.
• nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1 the DNA sequence encoding the mature protease is shown in bold, the nucleotide sequence encoding leader sequence (aprE-BPN' hybrid leader sequence) is shown in standard (non-underlined) text, and the nucleotide sequence encoding the pro sequence ( ⁇ ') is underlined.
• amino acid sequence (aprE-BPN' hybrid leader sequence, BPN' pro sequence, and BPN' mature protein sequence) of the BPN' precursor protein set forth in SEQ ID NO: 168 the bolded portion indicates the mature BPN' subtilisin protease.
• amino acid sequence of the mature BPN' subtilisin protease is:
• the nucleotide sequence of the mature BPN'-v3 gene is shown below (the signal sequence and propeptide sequence used in the BPN'-v3 expression cassette is the same as that for BPN' shown in SEQ ID NO:l):
• the protein sequence of the mature BPN'-v3 protease variant is shown below (the signal sequence and propeptide sequence used in the BPN'-v3 expression cassette is the same as that for BPN' shown in SEQ ID NO: 168): AQSVPYGVSQIKAPALHSQGYTGSNVKVAVIDSGIDSSHPDLKVAGGASMVPSETNPFQDNNSH GTHVAGTVAALNNSIGVLGVAPSASLYAVKVLAADGSGQYSWIINGIEWAIANNMDVINMSLG APSGSAALKAAVDKAVASGVVVVAAAGNEGTSGSSSTVGYPGKYPSVIAVGAVDSSNQRASFS SVGPELDVMAPGVSIQSTLPGNKYGAQNGTSMASPHVAGAAALILSKHPNWTNTQVRSSLENTT TKLGDSFYYGKGLINVQAAAQ (SEQ ID NO:4) b) Construction of combinatorial library using pHPLT-BPN' -v3 plasmid
• the pHPLT-BPN'-v3 plasmid (see Figure 1) containing the BPN'-v3 expression cassette described above served as template DNA for cloning to provide variants derived from BPN' -v3.
• the vector pHPLT ( Figure 4 in US Patent No. 6,566, 112) contains the B. licheniformis LAT promoter ("Plat”); a sequence encoding the LAT signal peptide ("preLAT").
• a combinatorial DNA library was synthesized at DNA 2.0 and delivered as individual ligation reactions.
• the DNA from the ligation reaction mixtures was amplified by rolling circle amplification (RCA) using the Illustra Templiphi kit (GE Healthcare). The reaction was performed according to the manufacturer's protocol.
• One microliter of tenfold diluted amplified DNA was used to transform 50 ⁇ of competent B. subtilis cells (AaprE, AnprE, amyE: :xylRPxylAcomK-phleo).
• the transformation mixture was shaken at 37°C for 1 hour.
• Ten micro- liter aliquots of the transformation mixture were plated on skim milk (1.6%) Luria agar plates supplemented with 10 ⁇ g/ml of neomycin (Teknova).
• the transformants that formed halos on the skim milk plates were picked into microtiter plates containing 150 ⁇ 1 Luria broth (LB) medium supplemented with 10 ⁇ g/ml neomycin. Plates were grown overnight at 37°C with 250-300 rpm shaking and 70-80% humidity using Enzyscreen lids for microtiter plates (Enzyscreen). Using a 96 pin replicating tool, (Enzyscreen) the overnight culture plate was used to inoculate a new microtiter plate containing 180 ⁇ of MBD medium (a MOPS based defined medium) with 2.5 ⁇ g/ml neomycin. MBD medium was prepared essentially as known in the art (see Neidhardt et al., J. Bacteriol.
• the micronutrients were made up as a 100X stock solution containing in one liter, 400 mg FeS0 4 -7H 2 0, 100 mg MnS0 4 -H 2 0, 100 mg ZnS0 4 - 7H 2 0, 50 mg CuCl 2 -2H 2 0, 100 mg CoCl 2 -6H 2 0, 100 mg NaMo0 4 -2H 2 0, 100 mg Na 2 B 4 O 10H 2 O, 10 ml of 1M CaCl 2 , and 10 ml of 0.5 M sodium citrate.
• the MBD medium containing microtiter plates were grown for 64 hours at 37°C, 250-300 rpm, and 70-80% humidity using Enzyscreen lids (Enzyscreen) for protease variant expression. The next day, cultures were filtered through a micro-filter plate (0.22um; Millipore) and the resulting filtrates containing protease variants were used for biochemical analysis.
• protease variants were tested for cleaning performance using a BMI microswatch assay in Detergent Composition 1 at 16°C and pH 8 and BMI microswatch assay in Detergent Composition 2 at 16°C and pH 8. Protein content was determined using the TCA assay. Assays were performed as described in Example 1 and Performance Indices were calculated relative to BPN'-v3 (with a PI value of 1.0).
• BPN' subtilisin protease variant was determined to have a PI value greater than 1.0, at least 1.1, at least 1.2, at least 1.3, at least 1.4, at least 1.5, at least 1.6, at least 1.7, at least 1.8, at least 1.9, at least 2 to about 5, or from greater than 1.0 to about 5 relative to BPN' -v3 (SEQ ID NO:4) in a BMI microswatch cleaning assay in Detergent Composition 1 at pH 8 and 16°C: BPN' amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO:2) comprising the set of amino acid substitutions G097A-G128A-P210S-Y217Q, wherein amino acid positions of the variant are numbered by correspondence with the sequence of SEQ ID NO:2.
• Such variant has a PI value of 1.1 relative to BPN'-v3 in this BMI microswatch cleaning assay, and enhanced proteolytic activity compared to BPN' (SEQ ID NO:2) and a greater PI value than that of BPN' in this assay.
• the invention includes a protease variant having enhanced proteolytic activity compared to BPN' (SEQ ID NO:2) in this assay, the variant having an amino acid sequence comprising amino acid substitutions G097A-G128A-P210S-Y217Q, wherein amino acid positions of the variant are numbered by correspondence with the sequence of SEQ ID NO:2.
• protease variant having enhanced proteolytic activity compared to SEQ ID NO:2 in this assay, the variant comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 60%, 70%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 91 %, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, or 98% identity to the sequence of SEQ ID NO:2 and comprising amino acid substitutions G097A- G128A-P210S-Y217Q, wherein amino acid positions of the variant are numbered by correspondence with amino acid positions of the SEQ ID NO:2 sequence.
• subtilisin protease variant having enhanced proteolytic activity compared to BPN' and/or a PI value greater than that of BPN' (SEQ ID NO:2) and/or BPN'-v3 in a BMI microswatch cleaning assay, the variant comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 90%, 91 %, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, or 98% identity to SEQ ID NO:2, wherein the variant comprises substitutions X097A-X128A-X210S-X217Q, wherein positions of the variant are numbered by correspondence with the sequence of SEQ ID NO:2, and optionally wherein the variant comprises at least one substitution selected from the group of G097A, G128A, P210S, and Y217Q.
• protease variant may be an isolated, recombinant, substantially pure, or non-naturally occurring protease variant.
• compositions including, but not limited to, e.g., cleaning compositions, comprising such protease variant and methods for cleaning utilizing such variant as described in greater detail elsewhere herein.
• BPN' variants were determined to have a PI value of about 1.0 relative to BPN'- v3 in a BMI microswatch cleaning assay in Detergent Composition 1 at pH 8 and 16°C: BPN' amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO:2) comprising at least one set of amino acid substitutions selected from the group consisting of G097A-G128A-Y217Q, G097A-G128A-E156S-P210S-Y217Q, G097A-G128A-P210S- Y217Q-N218A, G097A-G128A-P210S-Y217Q-N218S, and G097A-Y104F-G128A-E156S-P210I- Y217Q, wherein amino acid positions of the variant are numbered by correspondence with the sequence of SEQ ID NO:2.
• Such variants have enhanced proteolytic activity compared to BPN' (SEQ ID NO:2) and a greater PI value than that of BPN' in this assay.
• the invention includes a protease variant having enhanced proteolytic activity compared to BPN' (SEQ ID NO:2) or a PI value of about 1.0 relative to BPN'-v3 in this BMI microswatch cleaning assay, the variant comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 60%, 70%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 91 %, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, or 98% identity to the sequence of SEQ ID NO:2 and comprising at least one set of amino acid substitutions selected from said group above, wherein amino acid positions of the variant are numbered by correspondence with amino acid positions of the SEQ ID NO:2 sequence.
• subtilisin protease variant having enhanced proteolytic activity compared to BPN' and/or a PI value of about 1.0 compared to BPN' -v3 in this BMI microswatch cleaning assay, the variant comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 90%, 91 %, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% identity to SEQ ID NO:2, wherein the variant comprises at least one substitution selected from the group of X097A, X104F, X128A, X156A/S, X210I/S, X217Q, X218A/S, and optionally at least one substitution selected from the group of G097A, Y104F, G128A, E156A/S, P210I/S, Y217Q, and N218A/S, wherein positions of the variant are numbered by correspondence with the sequence of SEQ ID NO:2. Also included are compositions, including, but not limited to,
• BPN' variants were determined to have a PI value of about 0.9 relative to BPN'- v3 in a BMI microswatch cleaning assay in Detergent Composition 1 at pH 8 and 16°C: BPN' amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO:2) comprising at least one set of amino acid substitutions selected from the group consisting of G097A-G128A-E156A-P210S-Y217Q-N218S and G097A-G128A-Y217Q-N218A, wherein positions of the variant are numbered by correspondence with the sequence of SEQ ID NO:2.
• Such variants have proteolytic activity.
• the invention includes a protease variant having proteolytic activity, a PI value of about 0.9 relative to BPN' -v3, and/or enhanced proteolytic activity compared to BPN' in this assay, the variant comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 60%, 70%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 91 %, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, or 98% identity to the sequence of SEQ ID NO:2 and at least one set of amino acid substitutions selected from said group above, wherein amino acid positions of the variant are numbered by correspondence with positions of the SEQ ID NO:2 sequence.
• compositions including, but not limited to, e.g., cleaning compositions, comprising at least one such variant and methods for cleaning utilizing at least one such variant as described in greater detail elsewhere herein.
• BPN' variants were determined to have a PI value of greater than 1.0 to about 5 relative to BPN' -v3 in a BMI microswatch cleaning assay in Detergent Composition 2 at pH 8 and 16°C: BPN' amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO:2) comprising at least one set of amino acid substitutions selected from the group consisting of G097A-G128A-P210S-Y217Q-N218A and G097A-G128A-P210S- Y217Q, wherein amino acid positions of the variant are numbered by correspondence with the sequence of SEQ ID NO:2.
• the invention includes a protease variant having enhanced proteolytic activity compared to BPN' (SEQ ID NO:2) and/or a PI value of greater than 1.0 to about 5 relative to BPN'-v3 in this BMI microswatch cleaning assay, the variant comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 60%, 70%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 91 %, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, or 98% identity to the sequence of SEQ ID NO:2 and comprising at least one set of amino acid substitutions selected from said group above, wherein amino acid positions of the variant are numbered by correspondence with amino acid positions of the SEQ ID NO:2 sequence.
• Such variants have enhanced proteolytic activity compared to BPN' (SEQ ID NO:2) and a greater PI value than that of BPN' in this assay.
• a subtilisin protease variant having enhanced proteolytic activity compared to BPN' and/or a PI value of greater than 1, at least 1.1, at least 1.2, at least 1.3, at least 1.4, at least 1.5, at least 1.6, at least 1.7, at least 1.8, at least 1.9 to about 5 compared to BPN' -v3 in this BMI microswatch cleaning assay, the variant comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 85%, 90%, 91 %, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% identity to SEQ ID NO:2, wherein the variant comprises at least one substitution selected from the group of X097A, X104F, X128A, X156A/S, X210I/S, X217Q, X218A/S
• compositions including, but not limited to, e.g., cleaning compositions, comprising at least one such variant and methods for cleaning utilizing at least one such variant as described in greater detail elsewhere herein.
• BPN' variants were determined to have a PI value of about 1.0 relative to BPN' - v3 in a BMI microswatch cleaning assay in Detergent Composition 2 at pH 8 and 16°C: BPN' amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO:2) comprising at least one set of amino acid substitutions selected from the group consisting of G097A-G128A-Y217Q (i.e., BPN'-v3), G097A-G128A-E156S-P210S-Y217Q, and G097A-G128A-P210S-Y217Q-N218S, wherein positions of the variant are numbered by correspondence with the sequence of SEQ ID NO:2.
• Such variants have proteolytic activity and enhanced proteolytic activity compared to BPN' in this assay.
• the invention includes a protease variant having proteolytic activity, PI value of 1.0 relative to BPN' -v3, and/or enhanced proteolytic activity compared to BPN' in this assay, the variant comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 60%, 70%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 91 %, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, or 98% identity to the sequence of SEQ ID NO:2 and at least one set of amino acid substitutions selected from said group above, wherein positions of the variant are numbered by correspondence with positions of the SEQ ID NO:2 sequence.
• compositions including, but not limited to, e.g., cleaning compositions, comprising at least one such variant and methods for cleaning utilizing at least one such variant as described in greater detail elsewhere herein.
• BPN' variants were determined to have a PI value of about 0.9 relative to BPN'- v3 in a BMI microswatch cleaning assay in Detergent Composition 2 at pH 8 and 16°C: BPN' amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO:2) comprising at least one set of amino acid substitutions selected from the group consisting of G097A-G128A-E156A-P210S-Y217Q-N218S, G097A-G128A-Y217Q-N218A, and G097A-Y104F-G128A-E156S-P210I-Y217Q, wherein positions of the variant are numbered by correspondence with the sequence of SEQ ID NO:2.
• Such variants have proteolytic activity.
• the invention includes a protease variant having proteolytic activity, a PI value of about 0.9 relative to BPN'- v3, and/or enhanced proteolytic activity compared to BPN' in this assay, the variant comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 60%, 70%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, or 98% identity to the sequence of SEQ ID NO:2 and at least one set of amino acid substitutions selected from said group above, wherein amino acid positions of the variant are numbered by correspondence with positions of the SEQ ID NO:2 sequence.
• compositions including, but not limited to, e.g., cleaning compositions, comprising at least one such variant and methods for cleaning utilizing at least one such variant as described in greater detail elsewhere herein.
• amino acid sequence of the BPN'-v3 + S78N variant is shown below:
• amino acid sequence of GcM90 is provided below:
• the nucleotide sequence of synthesized gene GcM91 is provided below:
• amino acid sequence of GcM91 is provided below:
• amino acid sequence of GcM92 is provided below:
• the nucleotide sequence of synthesized gene of GcM93 is provided below:
• amino acid sequence of GcM93 is provided below:
• amino acid sequence of GcM94 is provided below:
• the nucleotide sequence of synthesized gene GcM 95 is provided below:
• amino acid sequence of GcM 95 is provided below:
• the nucleotide sequence of synthesized gene GcM96 is provided below:
• amino acid sequence of GcM96 is provided below:
• nucleotide sequence of synthesized gene GcMlOO is provided below:
• amino acid sequence of GcMlOO is provided below:

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