A new serine protease family with elastase activity is produced by bacteria.

We found an elastolytic activity in the culture supernatant of sp. P-3, and the corresponding enzyme (streptomycetes elastase, SEL) was purified to apparent homogeneity from the culture supernatant. The molecular mass of purified SEL was approximately 18 kDa as judged by SDS-PAGE analysis and gel-filtration chromatography.