Aqualysins

Thermostable alkaline serine proteases secreted by various bacteria — most famously Thermus aquaticus, the hot-spring microbe that also gave molecular biology Taq polymerase. Their ability to function at high temperatures and alkaline pH makes them valuable models for studying protein thermostability and candidates for industrial processes that run hot, from detergent formulations to high-temperature processing steps. In food biotechnology, thermostable proteases serve controlled protein hydrolysis — producing hydrolysates and flavour bases — where heat both accelerates the reaction and keeps microbial contamination down. They remain primarily research and specialty-enzyme tools.