The genes, cDNA alpES1 and alpES1, encoding Aspergillus clavatus ES1 alkaline protease were amplified from complementary DNA (cDNA) and genomic DNA, respectively, cloned in pCR (R) II-TOPO plasmid and then sequenced. Sequence analysis of the cDNA alpES1 gene revealed an open reading frame (ORF) of 1212 bp encoding a pre-pro-protein of 403 amino acid residues consisting of a 21-aa signal peptide, a 100-aa pro-peptide and a 282-aa mature protein with a calculated molecular weight of 28.5 kDa. Compared to the cDNA alpES1 gene, the alpES1 gene contained three introns, which had 53, 57 and 54 bp, respectively. The cDNA alpES1 gene was then sub-cloned in pET-30b(+) and expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (lambda DE3). The purified recombinant protease had a molecular weight of about 32 kDa estimated by SDS-PAGE. Kinetic parameters, K(m) and k(cat) values of the recombinant AlpES1 for casein, were 0.23 mM and 12.38 mm(-1). respectively. The catalytic efficiency (k(cat)/K(m)) was 53.82 min(-1) mM(-1). (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.