A spore cortex-lytic enzyme was purified in an active form from the exudate of fully germinated spores of Clostridium perfringens S40. The enzyme caused attenuation of absorbance in coatless spore suspensions and phase-darkening of the spores, but had minimal activity on isolated peptidoglycan fragments. The enzyme was identified as a 31kDa protein which is probably an N-acetylmuramyl-L-alanine amidase. The aminoterminal 15 residues of the enzyme were : VLPEPVVPEYIVVHN.

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