REFERENCE TO A SEQUENCE LISTING

This application contains a Sequence Listing in computer readable form, which is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to detergent compositions comprising novel DNase variants exhibiting alterations relative to the parent DNase in one or more properties including: wash performance, detergent stability and/or storage stability. The variants of the invention are suitable for use in cleaning processes and detergent compositions, such as laundry compositions and dish wash compositions, including hand wash and automatic dish wash compositions. The present invention also relates to isolated DNA sequences encoding the variants, expression vectors, host cells, and methods for producing and using the DNase variants of the invention.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

To save energy and protect the environment the temperature is lowered for many cleaning processes. In addition, many harsh detergent components such as strong bleaches have been replaced, and short cleaning processes are becoming increasingly more popular. When the temperature is lowered, bleaches are replaced and when cleaning and wash processes are shortened, microorganisms such as bacteria have better conditions for growth. Microorganisms generally live attached to surfaces in many natural, industrial, and medical environments, encapsulated by extracellular substances including biopolymers and macromolecules. The resulting layer of slime encapsulated microorganism is termed a biofilm which often are surrounded by a matrix of extracellular polymeric substance (EPS). EPS is a polymeric conglomeration generally composed of extracellular DNA, proteins, and polysaccharides

The presence of organic matter such as biofilm and EPS may imply that the laundry items become sticky and soil may adhere to the sticky areas. When dirty laundry items are washed together with less dirty laundry items the dirt present in the wash liquor tend to adhere to the laundry (e.g. by re-deposition) in particular if the laundry is sticky as described above. As a result hereof the laundry item is more “soiled” after wash than before wash.

International patent application WO 2011/098579 (Newcastle University) and WO 2014/087011 (Novozymes A/S) relates to the use of deoxyribonuclease compounds. To be useful in cleaning processes such as laundry an enzyme such a DNase need to be stable in detergent compositions and compatible with standard detergent components such as surfactants, builders, bleaches etc.

The present invention provides a detergent composition such as cleaning and/or treatment composition.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a detergent composition comprising a variant of a DNase parent, wherein the DNase parent belong to the GYS-clade and wherein the parent DNase comprises one or both motifs [D/M/L][S/T]GYSR[D/N] (SEQ ID NO: 25) or ASXNRSKG (SEQ ID NO: 26); and a detergent composition adjunct.

The invention further relates to a detergent composition comprising (a) a DNase variant comprising an alteration compared to the polypeptide shown in SEQ ID NO: 1 at one or more positions corresponding to positions 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 19, 21, 22, 24, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30, 32, 38, 39, 40, 42, 49, 51, 52, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 61, 63, 65, 68, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 82, 83, 92, 93, 94, 99, 101, 102, 104, 105, 107, 109, 112, 116, 125, 126, 127, 130, 132, 135, 138, 139, 143, 144, 145, 147, 149, 152, 156, 157, 159, 160, 161, 162, 164, 166, 167, 168, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 181 and 182 of SEQ ID NO: 1, wherein the variant has a sequence identity to the entire length of the polypeptide shown in SEQ ID NO: 1 of at least 60%, at least 65%, at least 70%, at least 75%, at least 80%, of at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, or at least 99%, but less than 100% sequence identity to the polypeptide shown in SEQ ID NO: 1, wherein the variant has DNase activity; and (b) an adjunct.

The invention further relates to a detergent composition comprising (a) a variant of a DNase parent, wherein the variant comprises one or both motifs [D/M/L][S/T]GYSR[D/N] (SEQ ID NO: 25) or ASXNRSKG (SEQ ID NO: 26), wherein the variant comprises one or more substitution(s) compared to SEQ ID NO 1, wherein the substitution is selected from the group consisting of: T1I, T1V, T1Y, T1M, T1E, G4N, T5F, T5C, P6V, P6G, S7D, S7T, K8V, S9K, S9Q, S9V, S9L, S9F, S9P, S9R, A10D, A10M, A10I, A10Q, A10V, A10L, A10K, Q12S, Q12V, Q12E, S13D, S13Y, S13Q, S13F, S13R, S13V, S13N, S13H, S13M, S13W, S13K, S13L, S13E, Q14M, Q14R, N16S, A17C, A17V, A17E, A17T, T19K, T19L, T19S, T19I, T19V, K21E, K21M, T22P, T22A, T22V, T22D, T22R, T22K, T22M, T22E, T22H, T22L, T22W, T22F, T22C, T22I, G24Y, S25P, S27N, S27I, S27M, S27D, S27V, S27F, S27A, S27C, S27L, S27E, G28L, Y29W, S30K, S30D, S30H, S30T, D32Q, I38V, I38M, S39A, S39P, S39Y, S39H, S39E, S39N, S39M, S39D, Q40V, S42C, S42L, S42M, S42F, S42W, V49R, L51I, K52I, K52H, A55S, D56I, D56L, D56T, S57W, S57F, S57H, S57C, S57P, S57V, S57R, S57T, Y58A, Y58T, S59C, S59T, S59L, S59Q, S59V, S59K, S59R, S59M, S59I, S59H, N61D, P63A, T65L, T65I, T65V, T65R, T65K, S68V, S68I, S68W, S68Y, S68H, S68C, S68T, S68L, V76G, V76L, V76C, V76K, V76H, V76E, V76A, V76Y, V76N, V76M, V76R, V76F, T77N, T77Y, T77W, T77R, F78I, F78H, F78Y, F78C, T79G, T79R, N80K, S82L, S82E, S82K, S82R, S82H, D83C, D83F, D83L, L92T, A93G, E94N, G99S, S101D, S101A, S102M, S102L, S102V, S102A, S102K, S102T, S102R, T104P, T104A, T105V, T105I, K107L, K107C, K107R, K107H, K107S, K107M, K107E, K107A, K107D, Q109R, Q109S, A112S, S116D, S116R, S116Q, S116H, S116V, S116A, S116E, S116K, A125K, S126I, S126E, S126A, S126C, T127C, T127V, S130E, G132R, D135R, T138Q, W139R, R143E, R143K, S144Q, S144H, S144L, S144P, S144E, S144K, G145V, G145E, G145D, G145A, A147Q, A147W, A147S, G149S, K152H, K152R, S156C, S156G, S156K, S156R, S156T, S156A, T157S, Y159F, K160V, W161L, W161Y, G162Q, G162D, G162M, G162R, G162A, G162S, G162E, G162L, G162K, G162V, G162H, S164R, S164T, Q166D, S167M, S167L, S167F, S167W, S167E, S167A, S167Y, S167H, S167C, S167I, S167Q, S167V, S167T, S168V, S168E, S168D, S168L, K170S, K170L, K170F, K170R, T171D, T171E, T171A, T171C, A172G, A172S, L173T, L173A, L173V, Q174L, G175D, G175E, G175N, G175R, M176H, L177I, N178D, N178E, N178T, N178S, N178A, S179E, S181R, S181E, S181D, S181F, S181H, S181W, S181L, S181M, S181Y, S181Q, S181G, S181A, Y182M, Y182C, Y182K, Y182G, Y182A, Y182S, Y182V, Y182D, Y182Q, Y182F, Y182L, Y182N, Y182I, Y182E, Y182T and Y182W, wherein the variant has a sequence identity to the polypeptide shown in SEQ ID NO: 1 of at least 60%, at least 65%, at least 70%, at least 75%, at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, or at least 99%, but less than 100% sequence identity to the polypeptide shown in SEQ ID NO: 1, wherein the variant has DNase activity; and (b) an adjunct. Preferably the variant has at least one improved property compared to the polypeptide shown in SEQ ID NO: 1. The improved property is preferably increased stability measured as half-life improvement factor, HIF, compared to the DNase having the polypeptide shown in SEQ ID NO: 1.

The invention relates to a detergent e.g. cleaning and/or treatment composition comprising a variant according to the invention; and a cleaning adjunct; and to the use of such a composition in a cleaning and/or treatment process, such as laundry or hard surface cleaning such as dish washing. This invention also relates to a method of treating a surface, preferably a fabric comprising: (i) forming an aqueous wash liquor comprising water and the detergent composition; (ii) treating the surface with the aqueous wash liquor at a temperature of 30° C. or less; and (iii) rinsing the surface.

The invention also relates to a detergent composition which is a fabric treatment composition such as a fabric softener composition and methods of treating fabrics with a fabric softener composition.

The DNase variant herein may be prepared by a method comprising;

a) introducing into a parent DNase an alteration at one or more positions corresponding to positions 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 19, 21, 22, 24, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30, 32, 38, 39, 40, 42, 49, 51, 52, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 61, 63, 65, 68, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 82, 83, 92, 93, 94, 99, 101, 102, 104, 105, 107, 109, 112, 116, 125, 126, 127, 130, 132, 135, 138, 139, 143, 144, 145, 147, 149, 152, 156, 157, 159, 160, 161, 162, 164, 166, 167, 168, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 181 and 182 of SEQ ID NO 1, wherein the variant has DNase activity,b) and recovering the variant.
The DNase variants suitable for use in the compositions of the invention may be prepared by a method comprising introducing into a parent DNase an alteration at one or more positions, wherein the alteration is a substitution and wherein the substitution is selected from the group consisting of: T1I, T1L, T1V, T1F, T1Y, T1M, T1E, G4N, T5F, T5C, P6V, P6G, S7D, S7T, K8V, S9K, S9Q, S9V, S9L, S9F, S9P, S9R, A10D, A10M, A10I, A10Q, A10T, A10V, A10L, A10K, Q12S, Q12V, Q12E, S13D, S13Y, S13T, S13Q, S13F, S13R, S13V, S13N, S13H, S13M, S13W, S13K, S13L, S13E, Q14M, Q14R, N16S, A17C, A17V, A17E, A17T, A17S, T19K, T19N, T19L, T19S, T19I, T19V, K21Q, K21E, K21M, T22P, T22A, T22V, T22D, T22R, T22K, T22M, T22E, T22H, T22L, T22W, T22F, T22C, T22S, T22I, G24Y, S25P, S25T, S27N, S27I, S27M, S27D, S27T, S27V, S27F, S27A, S27C, S27L, S27E, G28L, Y29W, S30K, S30D, S30H, S30T, D32Q, I38V, I38M, S39A, S39P, S39Y, S39H, S39E, S39N, S39M, S39D, Q40V, S42G, S42C, S42D, S42L, S42M, S42F, S42N, S42W, V49R, L51I, K52I, K52Q, K52H, A55S, D56I, D56L, D56T, S57W, S57Y, S57F, S57H, S57C, S57P, S57V, S57R, S57T, Y58A, Y58T, S59C, S59T, S59L, S59Q, S59V, S59K, S59R, S59M, S59I, S59H, N61D, P63A, T65L, T65I, T65V, T65R, T65K, S68V, S68I, S68W, S68K, S68Y, S68H, S68C, S68T, S68L, V76G, V76L, V76C, V76K, V76H, V76E, V76A, V76Y, V76N, V76M, V76R, V76I, V76F, T77N, T77Y, T77W, T77R, F78L, F78I, F78H, F78V, F78Y, F78C, T79G, T79R, N80K, N805, S82L, S82E, S82K, S82R, S82H, D83C, D83F, D83L, L92T, A93G, E94N, G99S, S101D, S101A, S102M, S102L, S102V, S102A, S102K, S102T, S102R, T104S, T104P, T104A, T105V, T105I, K107L, K107C, K107R, K107H, K107S, K107M, K107E, K107A, K107Q, K107D, Q109K, Q109R, Q109S, A112S, S116D, S116R, S116Q, S116H, S116V, S116A, S116E, S116K, A125K, S126I, S126E, S126A, S126C, T127C, T127V, T127S, S130E, G132R, D135R, T138Q, W139R, R143E, R143K, S144Q, S144H, S144A, S144L, S144P, S144E, S144K, G145V, G145E, G145D, G145A, A147H, A147R, A147K, A147Q, A147W, A147N, A147S, G149S, K152H, K152R, S156C, S156G, S156K, S156R, S156T, S156A, T157S, Y159H, Y159F, K160R, K160V, W161L, W161Y, G162Q, G162N, G162D, G162M, G162R, G162A, G162S, G162E, G162L, G162K, G162V, G162H, S164R, S164H, S164N, S164T, Q166D, S167M, S167L, S167F, S167W, S167E, S167A, S167Y, S167H, S167C, S167I, S167Q, S167V, S167T, S168V, S168E, S168D, S168L, K170S, K170L, K170F, K170R, T171D, T171E, T171N, T171A, T171S, T171C, A172G, A172S, L173T, L173A, L173V, Q174L, G175D, G175E, G175N, G175R, G175S, M176H, L177I, N178D, N178E, N178T, N178S, N178A, S179E, S181R, S181E, S181D, S181I, S181F, S181H, S181W, S181L, S181M, S181Y, S181Q, S181V, S181G, S181A, Y182M, Y182C, Y182K, Y182G, Y182A, Y182S, Y182V, Y182D, Y182Q, Y182F, Y182L, Y182N, Y182I, Y182E, Y182T and Y182W compared to the polypeptide shown in SEQ ID NO: 1.

The DNase parent preferably belongs to the GYS-clade and wherein the parent DNase comprises one or both motifs [D/M/L][S/T]GYSR[D/N] (SEQ ID NO: 25) or ASXNRSKG (SEQ ID NO: 26).

One aspect of the invention relates to the use of a composition according to the invention for deep cleaning of an item, wherein the item is a textile or a hard surface.

Sequences

SEQ ID NO: 1 mature polypeptide obtained fromBacillus cibi

SEQ ID NO: 2 mature polypeptide obtained fromBacillus horikoshii

SEQ ID NO: 3 mature polypeptide obtained fromBacillussp-62520

SEQ ID NO: 4 mature polypeptide obtained fromBacillus horikoshii

SEQ ID NO: 5 mature polypeptide obtained fromBacillus horikoshii

SEQ ID NO: 6 mature polypeptide obtained fromBacillussp-16840

SEQ ID NO: 7 mature polypeptide obtained fromBacillussp-16840

SEQ ID NO: 8 mature polypeptide obtained fromBacillussp-62668

SEQ ID NO: 9 mature polypeptide obtained fromBacillussp-13395

SEQ ID NO: 10 mature polypeptide obtained fromBacillus horneckiae

SEQ ID NO: 11 mature polypeptide obtained fromBacillussp-11238

SEQ ID NO: 12 mature polypeptide obtained fromBacillus62451

SEQ ID NO: 13 mature polypeptide obtained fromBacillussp-18318

SEQ ID NO: 14 mature polypeptide obtained fromBacillus idriensis

SEQ ID NO: 15 is the mature polypeptide obtained fromBacillus algicola

SEQ ID NO: 16 mature polypeptide obtained from environmental sample J

SEQ ID NO: 17 mature polypeptide obtained fromBacillus vietnamensis

SEQ ID NO: 18 mature polypeptide obtained fromBacillus hwajinpoensis

SEQ ID NO: 19 mature polypeptide obtained fromPaenibacillus mucilaginosus

SEQ ID NO: 20 mature polypeptide obtained fromBacillus indicus

SEQ ID NO: 21 Mature polypeptide obtained fromBacillus marisflavi

SEQ ID NO: 22 mature polypeptide obtained fromBacillus luciferensis

SEQ ID NO: 23 mature polypeptide obtained fromBacillus marisflavi

SEQ ID NO: 24 mature polypeptide obtained fromBacillussp. SA2-6

SEQ ID NO: 25 motif [D/M/L][S/T]GYSR[D/N]

SEQ ID NO: 26 motif ASXNRSKG

Definitions

The term “adjunct” means any liquid, solid or gaseous material selected for the particular type of detergent composition desired and the form of the product (e.g., liquid, granule, powder, bar, paste, spray, tablet, gel, or foam composition), which materials are also preferably compatible with the DNase variant enzyme used in the composition. In some aspects, granular compositions are in “compact” form, while in other aspects, the liquid compositions are in a “concentrated” form.

The term “allelic variant” means any of two or more alternative forms of a gene occupying the same chromosomal locus. Allelic variation arises naturally through mutation, and may result in polymorphism within populations. Gene mutations can be silent (no change in the encoded polypeptide) or may encode polypeptides having altered amino acid sequences. An allelic variant of a polypeptide is a polypeptide encoded by an allelic variant of a gene.

“Biofilm” may be produced by any group of microorganisms in which cells stick to each other on a surface, such as a textile, dishware or hard surface. These adherent cells are frequently embedded within a self-produced matrix of extracellular polymeric substance (EPS). Biofilm EPS is a polymeric conglomeration generally composed of extracellular DNA, proteins, and polysaccharides. Biofilms may form on living or non-living surfaces. The microbial cells growing in a biofilm are physiologically distinct from planktonic cells of the same organism, which, by contrast, are single-cells that may float or swim in a liquid medium. Bacteria living in a biofilm usually have significantly different properties from free-floating bacteria of the same species, as the dense and protected environment of the film allows them to cooperate and interact in various ways. One benefit of this environment is increased resistance to detergents and antibiotics, as the dense extracellular matrix and the outer layer of cells protect the interior of the community. On laundry biofilm producing bacteria can be found among the following species:Acinetobactersp.,Aeromicrobiumsp.,Brevundimonassp.,Microbacteriumsp.,Micrococcus luteus, Pseudomonassp.,Staphylococcus epidermidis, andStenotrophomonassp.

The term “cDNA” means a DNA molecule that can be prepared by reverse transcription from a mature, spliced, mRNA molecule obtained from a prokaryotic or eukaryotic cell. A cDNA lacks intron sequences that may be present in the corresponding genomic DNA. The initial, primary RNA transcript is a precursor to mRNA that is processed through a series of steps, including splicing, before appearing as mature spliced mRNA.

The term “clade” means a group of polypeptides clustered together based on homologous features traced to a common ancestor. Polypeptide clades can be visualized as phylogenetic trees and a clade is a group of polypeptides that consists of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants. Polypeptides forming a group e.g. a clade as shown in a phylogenetic tree may often share common properties and are more closely related than other polypeptides not in the clade.

The term “coding sequence” means a polynucleotide, which directly specifies the amino acid sequence of its polypeptide product. The boundaries of the coding sequence are generally determined by an open reading frame, which usually begins with the ATG start codon or alternative start codons such as GTG and TTG and ends with a stop codon such as TAA, TAG, and TGA. The coding sequence may be a DNA, cDNA, synthetic, or recombinant polynucleotide.

The term “control sequences” means all components necessary for the expression of a polynucleotide encoding a variant of the present invention. Each control sequence may be native or foreign to the polynucleotide encoding the variant or native or foreign to each other. Such control sequences include, but are not limited to, a leader, polyadenylation sequence, propeptide sequence, promoter, signal peptide sequence, and transcription terminator. At a minimum, the control sequences include a promoter, and transcriptional and translational stop signals. The control sequences may be provided with linkers for introducing specific restriction sites facilitating ligation of the control sequences with the coding region of the polynucleotide encoding a variant.

By the term “deep cleaning” is meant reduction or removal of components of biofilm, EPS or parts hereof, such as proteins, DNA, polysaccharides, soil or other components present in e.g. the biofilm or EPS.

The term “detergent composition”, includes unless otherwise indicated, granular or powder-form all-purpose or heavy-duty washing agents, especially cleaning detergents; liquid, gel or paste-form all-purpose washing agents, especially the so-called heavy-duty liquid (HDL) types; liquid fine-fabric detergents; hand dishwashing agents or light duty dishwashing agents, especially those of the high-foaming type; machine dishwashing agents, including the various tablet, granular, liquid and rinse-aid types for household and institutional use; liquid cleaning and disinfecting agents, including antibacterial hand-wash types, cleaning bars, soap bars, mouthwashes, denture cleaners, car or carpet shampoos, bathroom cleaners; hair shampoos and hair-rinses; shower gels, foam baths; metal cleaners; as well as cleaning auxiliaries such as bleach additives and “stain-stick” or pre-treat types. The terms “detergent composition” and “detergent formulation” are used in reference to mixtures which are intended for use in a wash medium for the cleaning of soiled objects. In some aspects, the term is used in reference to laundering fabrics and/or garments (e.g., “laundry detergents”). In alternative aspects, the term refers to other detergents, such as those used to clean dishes, cutlery, etc. (e.g., “dishwashing detergents”). It is not intended that the present invention be limited to any particular detergent formulation or composition. The term “detergent composition” is not intended to be limited to compositions that contain surfactants. It is intended that in addition to the variants according to the invention, the term encompasses detergents that may contain, e.g., surfactants, builders, chelators or chelating agents, bleach system or bleach components, polymers, fabric conditioners, foam boosters, suds suppressors, dyes, perfume, tarnish inhibitors, optical brighteners, bactericides, fungicides, soil suspending agents, anti-corrosion agents, enzyme inhibitors or stabilizers, enzyme activators, transferase(s), hydrolytic enzymes, oxido reductases, bluing agents and fluorescent dyes, antioxidants, and solubilizers. Detergent compositions may also be used in a fabric treatment step, for example a they may provide fabric freshening, fabric softening and/or colour-rejuvenation step.

The term “DNase”, “DNase variants” or “DNase parent” means a polypeptide with DNase activity that catalyzes the hydrolytic cleavage of phosphodiester linkages in DNA, thus degrading DNA. DNases belong to the esterases (EC-number 3.1), a subgroup of the hydrolases. The DNases are classified EC 3.1.21.X, where X=1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9. The term “DNase” and the expression “a polypeptide with DNase activity” may be used interchangeably throughout the application. For purposes of the present invention, DNase activity is determined according to the procedure described in the Assay I or Assay II. In some aspects, the DNase variants of the present invention have improved DNase activity compared to the parent DNase. In some aspects, the DNase variants of the present invention have at least 100%, e.g., at least 110%, at least 120%, at least 130%, at least 140%, at least 150%, at least 160%, at least 170%, at least 180%, at least 190%, or at least 200% DNase activity compared to the polypeptide shown in SEQ ID NO: 1.

The term “effective amount of enzyme” refers to the quantity of enzyme necessary to achieve the enzymatic activity required in the specific application, e.g., in a defined detergent composition. Such effective amounts are readily ascertained by one of ordinary skill in the art and are based on many factors, such as the particular enzyme used, the cleaning application, the specific composition of the detergent composition, and whether a liquid or dry (e.g., granular, bar) composition is required, and the like. The term “effective amount” of a DNase variant refers to the quantity of DNase variant described hereinbefore that achieves a desired level of enzymatic activity, e.g., in a defined detergent composition.

The term “expression” includes any step involved in the production of the variant including, but not limited to, transcription, post-transcriptional modification, translation, post-translational modification, and secretion.

The term “expression vector” means a linear or circular DNA molecule that comprises a polynucleotide encoding a variant and is operably linked to additional nucleotides that provide for its expression.

The term “fabric” encompasses any textile material. Thus, it is intended that the term encompass garments, as well as fabrics, yarns, fibers, non-woven materials, natural materials, synthetic materials, and any other textile material.

The term “high detergent concentration” system includes detergents wherein greater than about 2000 ppm of detergent components is present in the wash water. European detergents are generally considered to be high detergent concentration systems.

The term “host cell” means any cell type that is susceptible to transformation, transfection, transduction, and the like with a nucleic acid construct or expression vector comprising a polynucleotide of the present invention. The term “host cell” encompasses any progeny of a parent cell that is not identical to the parent cell due to mutations that occur during replication.

The term “improved property” means a characteristic associated with a variant that is improved compared to the parent and/or compared to a DNase with SEQ ID NO: 1, or compared to a DNase having the identical amino acid sequence of said variant but not having the alterations at one or more of said specified positions. Such improved properties include, but are not limited to, stability, such as detergent stability, wash performance e.g. deep cleaning effect and the deep-cleaning effect may include but is not limited to de-gluing effect.

The term “improved DNase activity” is defined herein as an altered DNase activity e.g. by increased catalysis of hydrolytic cleavage of phosphodiester linkages in the DNA the DNase variant displaying an alteration of the activity relative (or compared) to the activity of the parent DNase, such as compared to a DNase with SEQ ID NO: 1.

The term “low detergent concentration” system includes detergents where less than about 800 ppm of detergent components is present in the wash water. Asian, e.g., Japanese detergents are typically considered low detergent concentration systems.

The term “improved wash performance” includes but is not limited to the term “deep cleaning effect”. Improved performance e.g. deep cleaning performance of a DNase variant according to the invention is measured compared to the DNase parent e.g. the DNase shown in SEQ ID NO: 1. The improved performance e.g. deep cleaning performance may be expressed as a Remission value of the stained swatches. After washing and rinsing the swatches are spread out flat and allowed to air dry at room temperature overnight. All washed swatches are evaluated the day after the wash. Light reflectance evaluations of the swatches are done using a Macbeth Color Eye 7000 reflectance spectrophotometer with very small aperture. The measurements are made without UV in the incident light and remission at 460 nm was extracted. Positive response indicate that soil has been removed including soiled adhered to the fabric due to e.g. biofilm sticky layer.

The term “isolated polynucleotide” means a polynucleotide that is modified by the hand of man. In some aspects, the isolated polynucleotide is at least 1% pure, e.g., at least 5% pure, at least 10% pure, at least 20% pure, at least 40% pure, at least 60% pure, at least 80% pure, at least 90% pure, and at least 95% pure, as determined by agarose electrophoresis. The polynucleotides may be of genomic, cDNA, RNA, semisynthetic, synthetic origin, or any combinations thereof.

The term “laundering” relates to both household laundering and industrial laundering and means the process of treating textiles with a solution containing a cleaning or detergent composition of the present invention. The laundering process can for example be carried out using e.g. a household or an industrial washing machine or can be carried out by hand.

The term “mature polypeptide” means a polypeptide in its final form following translation and any post-translational modifications, such as N-terminal processing, C-terminal truncation, glycosylation, phosphorylation, etc. In some aspects, the mature polypeptide is amino acids 1 to 182 of SEQ ID NO: 1. The N-terminals of the mature polypeptide used according to the present invention were experimentally confirmed based on EDMAN N-terminal sequencing data and Intact MS data. It is known in the art that a host cell may produce a mixture of two of more different mature polypeptides (i.e., with a different C-terminal and/or N-terminal amino acid) expressed by the same polynucleotide.

The term “mature polypeptide coding sequence” means a polynucleotide that encodes a mature polypeptide having DNase activity.

The term “medium detergent concentration” system includes detergents wherein between about 800 ppm and about 2000 ppm of detergent components is present in the wash water. North American detergents are generally considered to be medium detergent concentration systems.

The term “nucleic acid construct” means a nucleic acid molecule, either single- or double-stranded, which is isolated from a naturally occurring gene or is modified to contain segments of nucleic acids in a manner that would not otherwise exist in nature or which is synthetic. The term nucleic acid construct is synonymous with the term “expression cassette” when the nucleic acid construct contains the control sequences required for expression of a coding sequence of the present invention.

The term “non-fabric detergent compositions” include non-textile surface detergent compositions, including but not limited to compositions for hard surface cleaning, such as dishwashing detergent compositions including manual dish wash compositions, oral detergent compositions, denture detergent compositions, and personal cleansing compositions.

The term “operably linked” means a configuration in which a control sequence is placed at an appropriate position relative to the coding sequence of a polynucleotide such that the control sequence directs the expression of the coding sequence.

The term “parent” DNase, DNase parent or precursor DNase may be used interchangeably. In context of the present invention “parent DNase” is to be understood as a DNase into which at least one alteration is made in the amino acid sequence to produce a DNase variant having an amino acid sequence which is less than 100% identical to the DNase sequence into which the alteration was made i.e. the parent DNase. Thus, the parent is a DNase having identical amino acid sequence compared to the variant but not having the alterations at one or more of the specified positions. It will be understood, that in the present context the expression “having identical amino acid sequence” relates to 100% sequence identity. In a particular aspect the DNase parent is a DNase having at least 60%, at least 61%, at least 62%, at least 63%, at least 64%, at least 65%, at least 66%, at least 67%, at least 68%, at least 69%, at least 70%, at least 72%, at least 73%, at least 74%, at least 75%, at least 80%, at least 81%, at least 82%, at least 83%, at least 84%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 91%, at least 92%, at least 93%, at least 94%, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, at least 99%, e.g. at least 99.1%, at least 99.2%, at least 99.3%, at least 99.4%, at least 99.5%, at least 99.6 or 100% identity to a polypeptide shown in SEQ ID NO: 1.

The term “relevant washing conditions” is used herein to indicate the conditions, particularly washing temperature, time, washing mechanics, detergent concentration, type of detergent and water hardness, actually used in households in a detergent market segment.

The term “stability” includes storage stability and stability during use, e.g. during a wash process and reflects the stability of the DNase variant according to the invention as a function of time e.g. how much activity is retained when the DNase variant is kept in solution in particular in a detergent solution. The stability is influenced by many factors e.g. pH, temperature, detergent composition e.g. amount of builder, surfactants etc. The DNase stability may be measured as described in example 2. The term “improved stability” or “increased stability” is defined herein as a variant DNase displaying an increased stability in solutions, relative to the stability of the parent DNase and/or relative to SEQ ID NO: 1. “Improved stability” and “increased stability” includes detergent stability. The term “detergent stability” or “improved detergent stability may be improved stability of the DNase activity compared to the DNase parent. The DNase stability is measured as described in example 2.

The term “substantially pure variant” means a preparation that contains at most 10%, at most 8%, at most 6%, at most 5%, at most 4%, at most 3%, at most 2%, at most 1%, and at most 0.5% by weight of other polypeptide material with which it is natively or recombinantly associated. Preferably, the variant is at least 92% pure, e.g., at least 94% pure, at least 95% pure, at least 96% pure, at least 97% pure, at least 98% pure, at least 99%, at least 99.5% pure, and 100% pure by weight of the total polypeptide material present in the preparation. The variants of the present invention are preferably in a substantially pure form. This can be accomplished, for example, by preparing the variant by well-known recombinant methods or by classical purification methods.

The term “textile” refers to woven fabrics, as well as staple fibers and filaments suitable for conversion to or use as yarns, woven, knit, and non-woven fabrics. The term encompasses yarns made from natural, as well as synthetic (e.g., manufactured) fibers. The term, “textile materials” is a general term for fibers, yarn intermediates, yarn, fabrics, and products made from fabrics (e.g., garments and other articles).

The term “transcription promoter” is used for a promoter which is a region of DNA that facilitates the transcription of a particular gene. Transcription promoters are typically located near the genes they regulate, on the same strand and upstream (towards the 5′ region of the sense strand).

The term “transcription terminator” is used for a section of the genetic sequence that marks the end of gene or operon on genomic DNA for transcription.

The term “variant” means a polypeptide having DNase activity and which comprises a substitution at one or more (e.g., several) positions. A substitution means replacement of the amino acid occupying a position with a different amino acid, a deletion means removal of an amino acid occupying a position and an insertion means adding amino acids e.g. 1 to 10 amino acids, preferably 1-3 amino acids adjacent to an amino acid occupying a position. The variants of the present invention have at least 20%, e.g., at least 40%, at least 50%, at least 60%, at least 70%, at least 80%, at least 90%, at least 95%, or at least 100% of the DNase activity of the mature polypeptide shown in SEQ ID NO: 1. The term “DNase variant” means a DNase having DNase activity and comprising an alteration, i.e., a substitution, insertion, and/or deletion at one or more (or one or several) positions compared to the parent DNase e.g. compared to SEQ ID NO: 1.

The term “water hardness” or “degree of hardness” or “dH” or “° dH” as used herein refers to German degrees of hardness. One degree is defined as 10 milligrams of calcium oxide per liter of water.

The term “wild-type DNase” means a DNase expressed by a naturally occurring organism, such as a fungal, bacterium, archaea, yeast, plant or animal found in nature.

Conventions for Designation of Variants

For purposes of the present invention, the polypeptide disclosed in SEQ ID NO: 1 is used to determine the corresponding amino acid residue in another DNase. The amino acid sequence of another DNase is aligned with the polypeptide disclosed in SEQ ID NO: 1, and based on the alignment, the amino acid position number corresponding to any amino acid residue in the polypeptide disclosed in SEQ ID NO: 1 is determined using e.g. the Needleman-Wunsch algorithm (Needleman and Wunsch, 1970, J. Mol. Biol.48: 443-453) as implemented in the Needle program of the EMBOSS package (EMBOSS: The European Molecular Biology Open Software Suite, Rice et al., 2000, Trends Genet.16: 276-277), preferably version 5.0.0 or later. The parameters used are gap open penalty of 10, gap extension penalty of 0.5, and the EBLOSUM62 (EMBOSS version of BLOSUM62) substitution matrix.

Identification of the corresponding amino acid residue in another DNase can be determined by an alignment of multiple polypeptide sequences using several computer programs including, but not limited to, MUSCLE (multiple sequence comparison by log-expectation; version 3.5 or later; Edgar, 2004, Nucleic Acids Research32: 1792-1797), MAFFT (version 6.857 or later; Katoh and Kuma, 2002, Nucleic Acids Research30: 3059-3066; Katoh et al., 2005, Nucleic Acids Research33: 511-518; Katoh and Toh, 2007, Bioinformatics23: 372-374; Katoh et al., 2009, Methods in Molecular Biology537: 39-64; Katoh and Toh, 2010, Bioinformatics26: 1899-1900), and EMBOSS EMMA employing ClustalW (1.83 or later; Thompson et al., 1994, Nucleic Acids Research22: 4673-4680), using their respective default parameters.

When the another enzyme has diverged from the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 1 such that traditional sequence-based comparison fails to detect their relationship (Lindahl and Elofsson, 2000, J. Mol. Biol.295: 613-615), other pairwise sequence comparison algorithms can be used. Greater sensitivity in sequence-based searching can be attained using search programs that utilize probabilistic representations of polypeptide families (profiles) to search databases. For example, the PSI-BLAST program generates profiles through an iterative database search process and is capable of detecting remote homologs (Atschul et al., 1997, Nucleic Acids Res.25: 3389-3402). Even greater sensitivity can be achieved if the family or superfamily for the polypeptide has one or more representatives in the protein structure databases. Programs such as GenTHREADER (Jones, 1999, J. Mol. Biol.287: 797-815; McGuffin and Jones, 2003, Bioinformatics19: 874-881) utilize information from a variety of sources (PSI-BLAST, secondary structure prediction, structural alignment profiles, and solvation potentials) as input to a neural network that predicts the structural fold for a query sequence. Similarly, the method of Gough et al., 2000, J. Mol. Biol.313: 903-919, can be used to align a sequence of unknown structure with the superfamily models present in the SCOP database. These alignments can in turn be used to generate homology models for the polypeptide, and such models can be assessed for accuracy using a variety of tools developed for that purpose.

For proteins of known structure, several tools and resources are available for retrieving and generating structural alignments. For example, the SCOP super families of proteins have been structurally aligned, and those alignments are accessible and downloadable. Two or more protein structures can be aligned using a variety of algorithms such as the distance alignment matrix (Holm and Sander, 1998, Proteins33: 88-96) or combinatorial extension (Shindyalov and Bourne, 1998, Protein Engineering11: 739-747), and implementation of these algorithms can additionally be utilized to query structure databases with a structure of interest in order to discover possible structural homologs (e.g., Holm and Park, 2000, Bioinformatics16: 566-567).

In describing the variants of the present invention, the nomenclature described below is adapted for ease of reference. The accepted IUPAC single letter or three letters amino acid abbreviations are employed. Amino acid positions are indicated with #1, #2, etc.

Substitutions:

For an amino acid substitution, the following nomenclature is used: Original amino acid, position, substituted amino acid. Accordingly, the substitution of valine at position #1with alanine is designated as “Val #1Ala” or “V #1A”. Multiple mutations are separated by addition marks (“+”) or by commas (,), e.g., “Val #1Ala+“Pro #2Gly” or V #1A, P #2G, representing substitutions at positions #1 and #2 of valine (V) and proline (P) with alanine (A) and glycine (G), respectively. If more than one amino acid may be substituted in a given position these are listed in brackets, such as [X] or {X}. Thus, if both Trp and Lys may be substituted instead of the amino acid occupying at position #1this is indicated as X #1{W, K}, X #1[W, K] or X #1[W/K], where the X indicate the amino acid residue present at the position of the parent DNase e.g. such as a DNase shown in SEQ ID NO: 1 or a DNase having at least 60% identity hereto. In some cases the variants may be represented as #1{W, K} or X #2P indicating that the amino acids to be substituted vary depending on the parent. For convenience, as SEQ ID NO: 1 is used for numbering the substitutions, the amino acid in the corresponding position in SEQ ID NO: 1 is indicated, e.g. T1A. However, it will be clear to the skilled artisan that a DNase variant comprising T1A is not limited to parent DNases having Threonine at a position corresponding to position 1 of SEQ ID NO: 1. In a parent DNase having e.g. asparagine in position 1, the skilled person would translate the mutation specified as T1A to N1A. In the event the parent DNase has alanine in position 1, the skilled person would recognize that the parent DNase is not changed at this position. The same applies for deletions and insertions described below.

Deletions:

For an amino acid deletion, the following nomenclature is used: Original amino acid, position, *. Accordingly, the deletion of valine at position #1is designated as “Val #1*” or “V #1*”. Multiple deletions are separated by addition marks (“+”) or commas, e.g., “Val #1*+Pro #2*” or “V #1*, P #2*”.

Insertions:

The insertion of an additional amino acid residue such as e.g. a lysine after Val #1may be indicated by: Val #1ValLys or V #1VK. Alternatively insertion of an additional amino acid residue such as lysine after V #1may be indicated by: *#1aK. When more than one amino acid residue is inserted, such as e.g. a Lys, and Gly after #1this may be indicated as: Val #1ValLysGly or V #1VKG. In such cases, the inserted amino acid residue(s) may also be numbered by the addition of lower case letters to the position number of the amino acid residue preceding the inserted amino acid residue(s), in this example: *#1aK *#1bG.

Multiple alterations: Variants comprising multiple alterations are separated by addition marks (“+”) or by commas (,), e.g., “Val #1Trp+Pro #2Gly” or “V #1W, P #2G” representing a substitution of valine and proline at positions #1and #2with tryptophan and glycine, respectively as described above.

Different Alterations:

Where different alterations can be introduced at a position, the different alterations may be separated by a comma, e.g., “Val #1Trp, Lys” or V #1W, K representing a substitution of valine at position #1with tryptophan or lysine. Thus, “Val #1Trp, Lys+Pro #2Asp” designates the following variants: “Val #1Trp+Pro #2Asp”, “Val #1Lys+Pro #2Asp” or V #1W, K+P #2D.

Specific for Nomenclature of Clades

For purposes of the present invention, the nomenclature [IV] or [I/V] means that the amino acid at this position may be isoleucine (Ile, I) or valine (Val, V). Likewise, the nomenclature [LVI] and [L/V/I] means that the amino acid at this position may be a leucine (Leu, L), valine (Val, V) or isoleucine (Ile, I), and so forth for other combinations as described herein. Unless otherwise limited further, the amino acid X is defined such that it may be any of the 20 natural amino acids.

