Protein engineering of new industrial amylases

Calcium independent and acid stable alpha -amylases for starch liquefaction were developed by protein engineering. Termamyl LC(TM) obtained by site-directed mutagenesis showed high calcium independence, and its performance in the absence of calcium is equal to the one with Termamyl(TM) in the presence of 40 ppm of calcium. Termamyl LC(TM) was further developed by random mutagenesis, and highly improved variants have been efficiently produced by recent protein engineering technologies. The development of detergent alpha -amylase began with microbial screening, and two alpha -amylases active and stable in alkaline conditions were identified. Those amylases were further developed by protein engineering (site-directed mutagenesis), resulting in variants with improved alkaline stability and calcium independence.