Identification of a fibrinolytic enzyme by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bacillus vallismortis</Emphasis> and its potential as a bacteriolytic enzyme against <Emphasis Type="Italic">Streptococcus mutans</Emphasis>

A potent fibrinolytic enzyme-producing bacterium was isolated from the traditional Korean condiment Chungkook-jang and identified as Bacillus vallismortis Ace02. The extracellular fibrinolytic enzyme was purified with a 18% recovery of activity from supernatant cultures using CM-Sepharose column chromatography and Sephacryl S-200 gel filtration. The specific activity of the purified enzyme was 757 kFU mg⁻¹. Its molecular mass was about 28 kDa and the initial amino acids of the N-terminal sequence were AQSVPYGVSQ. The full amino acid sequence of fibrinolytic enzyme Ace02 corresponded with bacteriolytic enzyme, L27, from Bacillus licheniformis, which has strong lytic activity against Streptococcus mutans, a major causative strain of dental caries. This suggests that the purified enzyme should be used for prevention of dental caries as well as being an effective thrombolytic agent.