The gene encoding the branching enzyme (BE) from the thermoalkaliphilic, anaerobic bacterium Anaerobranca gottschalkii was fused with a twin arginine translocation protein secretory-pathway-dependent signal sequence from Escherichia coli and expressed in Staphylococcus carnosus. The secreted BE was purified using hydrophobic interaction and gel filtration chromatography. The monomeric enzyme (72 kDa) shows maximal activity at 50 degrees C and pH 7.0. With amylose the BE displays high transglycosylation and extremely low hydrolytic activity. The conversion of amylose and linear dextrins was analysed by applying high-performance anion exchange chromatography and quantitative size-exclusion chromatography. Amylose (10(4)-4x10(7) g/mol) was converted to a major extent to products displaying molecular masses of 10(4)-4x10(5) g/mol, indicating that the enzyme could be applicable for the production of starch or dextrins with narrow molecular mass distributions. The majority of the transferred oligosaccharides, determined after enzymatic hydrolysis of the newly synthesized alpha-1,6 linkages, ranged between 10(3) and 10(4) g/mol, which corresponds to a degree of polymerisation (DP) of 6-60. The minimal donor chain length is DP 16. Furthermore, the obtained results support the hypotheses of a random endocleavage mechanism of BE and the occurrence of interchain branching.