Novo Nordisk A/s

Novozymes A/s

Borge Diderichsen

Mads Eskelund Bjornvad

Frank Mikkelsen

Peter Markvardsen

The invention relates to a method of identifying enzymes suitable for use in detergents, especially the selection of specific enzyme variants among a large number of such variants created through random mutagenesis. The method comprises that enzyme variants to be selected are in a mixture of enzyme variants which are each displayed on the surface of cells or phage particles, and (i) introducing the mixture into a detergent composition under conditions that will have a negative impact on the activity of or inactivate most of said enzyme variants, (ii) reacting said mixture with a catcher molecule that will bind specifically only to enzyme variants that exhibit the property sought for, (iii) separating said complex from the remaining parts of said mixture, (iv) dissociate said complex to isolate such cell(s) or phage(s) that displayed said enzyme variant without the catcher molecule, (v) introducing said phage into a host wherein it will multiply, or (va)cultivating said cell under conditions conducive to its multiplication, (vi) isolating a DNA molecule coding for said enzyme variant from the genome of said cell or phage, and (vii) determining the sequence of said DNA molecule. The invention further relates to specific materials used in said method, the enzymes selected by use of the method, and to detergent compositions comprising aid enzymes.

Growing community of inventors

Kobenhavn O, Denmark

Borge Diderichsen