Cloning and nucleotide sequence of the gene encoding the gamma-D-glutamyl-L-diamino acid endopeptidase II of Bacillus sphaericus.

The gene encoding the Bacillus sphaericus gamma-D-glutamyl-L-diamino acid endopeptidase II, a cytoplasmic enzyme involved in cell sporulation [1], contains the information for a 271-amino acid protein devoid of a signal peptide. The endopeptidase lacks sequence relatedness with other proteins of known primary structure except that its C-terminal region has significant similarity with the C-terminal region of the 54-kDa P54 protein of Enterococcus faecium, of unknown function [2].