Abstract:
The present invention provides a novel xyloglucan oligosaccharide-degrading enzyme having a different degradation mechanism from known enzymes. This enzyme specifically cleaves the second null-glucoside linkage, counted from the reducing end among the null-glucoside linkage constituting the principal chain of xyloglucan oligosaccharide. In the present invention, the enzyme is collected from microorganisms belonging to Geotrichum species, and the amino acid and base sequences of the enzyme and polynucleotide encoding the enzyme are determined. Thus, high-purity polypeptides having the xyloglucan oligosaccharide-degradation activity can be prepared at low cost through a genetic engineering process.