The collagenase gene was cloned from Grimontia (Vibrio) hollisae 1706B, and its complete nucleotide sequence was determined. Nucleotide sequencing showed that the open reading frame was 2,301 bp in length and encoded an 84-kDa protein of 767 amino acid residues. The deduced amino acid sequence contains a putative signal sequence and a zinc metalloprotease consensus sequence, the HEXXH motif. G. hollisae collagenase showed 60 and 59% amino acid sequence identities to Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio alginolyticus collagenase, respectively. In contrast, this enzyme showed <20% sequence identity with Clostridium histolyticum collagenase. When the recombinant mature collagenase, which consisted of 680 amino acids with a calculated molecular mass of 74 kDa, was produced by the Brevibacillus expression system, a major gelatinolytic protein band of ϳ60 kDa was determined by zymographic analysis. This result suggested that cloned collagenase might undergo processing after secretion. Moreover, the purified recombinant enzyme was shown to possess a specific activity of 5,314 U/mg, an ϳ4-fold greater activity than that of C. histolyticum collagenase.Bacterial collagenases are metalloproteases containing a consensus motif for zinc proteases, the HEXXH sequence and are capable of digesting both native and denatured collagen. They make multiple cleavages at the Y-Gly bond in repeating X-Y-Gly sequences within triple helical regions, where proline and hydroxyproline residues are most common in the X and Y positions, respectively (17). Because of their characteristics, bacterial collagenases have been widely used in biological experiment as tissuedispersing enzymes, as well as in medical procedures such as the isolation of pancreatic islet cells for transplantation (14) and the treatment for Dupuytren's disease (6).Much of our knowledge of bacterial collagenases has come from studies of the enzymes produced by Clostridium histolyticum (13,(15)(16)(17)34). Analysis of the primary structure of the gene product from C. histolyticum has revealed that clostridial collagenases consist of three domains (catalytic domain, polycystic kidney disease [PKD] domain, and collagen-binding domain [CBD]) in their molecules. Moreover, CBD has utilized for anchoring molecule that growth factors fused to CBD can be functional to bind to collagen fibrils and maintain biological activities (21). On the other hand, one of the other well-investigated bacterial collagenases is Vibrio alginolyticus collagenase (7, 10, 11, 28). The collagenase activity of V. alginolyticus collagenase is higher than that of any other bacterial collagenase, and it was found highly efficient in debridement of necrotic burns, ulcers and decubitus. To date, bacterial collagenases have been purified from various species, and their genes have been cloned and sequenced (8,12,18,24,35). However, many collagenases have not yet been both enzymatically and structurally characterized.Vibrio hollisae is a Gram-negative bacterium first described in 1982 (4) and recently reclassified ...