Patent 7622290 was granted and assigned to Danisco on November, 2009 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
A fungal wild-type lipolytic enzyme having a higher ratio of activity on polar lipids compared with triglycerides, wherein the enzyme preferably has a phospholipid:triglyceride activity ratio of at least 4. Preferably, the lipolytic enzyme according to the present invention has a glycolipid:triglyceride hydrolyzing activity ratio of at least 1.5. In one embodiment, the fungal lipolytic enzyme according to the present invention comprises an amino acid sequence as shown in SEQ ID NO: 1 or SEQ ID No. 2 or SEQ ID No. 4 or SEQ ID No. 6 or an amino acid sequence which has at least 90% identity thereto. The present invention further encompasses a nucleic acid encoding a fungal lipolytic enzyme, which nucleic acid is selected from the group consisting of: (a) a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide shown in SEQ ID No. 3, SEQ ID No. 5 or SEQ ID No. 7; (b) a nucleic acid which is related to the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID No. 3, SEQ ID No. 5 or SEQ ID No. 7 by the degeneration of the genetic code; and (c) nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence which has at least 90% identity with the nucleotide sequence shown in SEQ ID No. 3, SEQ ID No. 5 or SEQ ID No. 7.