DE102007032111B4 - New proteases and detergents and cleaning agents containing these proteases - Google Patents

Abstract

A protease comprising an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of a) amino acid sequence corresponding to that shown in SEQ ID NO. 1 is at least 70.6% identical to the amino acid sequence indicated b) amino acid sequence which corresponds to the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO. 2 amino acid sequence is identical to at least 67.5% identical.

Description

The present application relates to a novel proteases whose DNA was obtained from soil samples, all sufficiently similar proteases and nucleic acids and technical applications for these proteases, especially their use in detergents and cleaners.

Proteases are among the most technically important enzymes of all. Of these, in turn, proteases of the subtilisin type (subtilases, subtilopeptidases, EC 3.4.21.62) are particularly important, which are attributed to the serine proteases due to the catalytically active amino acids. They act as nonspecific endopeptidases, that is, they hydrolyze any acid amide linkages that are internal to peptides or proteins. Their pH optimum is usually in the clearly alkaline range. For an overview of this family, see for example the article "Subtilases: Subtilisin-like Proteases" by R. Siezen, pages 75-95 in "Subtilisin enzymes", edited by R. Bott and C. Betzel, New York, 1996. Subtilases become natural formed by microorganisms; Of these, in particular, the subtilisins formed and secreted by Bacillus species are to be mentioned as the most important group within the subtilases.

Proteases are, in addition to other enzymes, established active ingredients of detergents and cleaners. They cause the breakdown of protein-containing stains on the items to be cleaned. At best, there are synergies between the enzymes and the remaining components of the funds concerned. Among the detergent and detergent proteases, subtilases occupy an outstanding position due to their favorable enzymatic properties such as stability or pH optimum. They are also suitable for a variety of other technical uses, for example as components of cosmetics or in the organic-chemical synthesis.

Examples of the subtilisin-type proteases preferably used in detergents and cleaners are the subtilisins BPN 'and Carlsberg, the protease PB92, the subtilisins 147 and 309, the alkaline protease from Bacillus lentus, subtilisin DY and those the subtilases, but no longer Enzymes Thermitase, Proteinase K, and Proteases TW3 and TW7, which can be classified as subtilisins in the narrower sense.

The subtilisin BPN ', which is derived from Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, or B. subtilis, is known from the work of Vasantha et al. (1984) in J. Bacteriol., Volume 159, pp. 811-819 and by J.A. Wells et al. (1983) in Nucleic Acids Research, Volume 11, pp. 7911-7925. Subtilisin BPN 'serves as a reference enzyme of the subtilisins, in particular with regard to the numbering of the positions.

Subtilisin Carlsberg in a developed form under the trade names Alcalase ^® from Novozymes A / S, Bagsvaerd, Denmark. It is described in the publications of EL Smith et al. (1968) in J. Biol. Chem., Volume 243, pp. 2184-2191, and Jacobs et al. (1985) in Nucl. Acids Res., Vol. 13, pp. 8913-8926 and is naturally produced by Bacillus licheniformis.

The protease PB92 is naturally derived from the alkaliphilic bacterium Bacillus nov. spec. 92 and Gist-Brocades, Delft, The Netherlands, available under the trade name was Maxacal ^® by the company.. In its original sequence, it is in the patent application EP 283075 A2 described.

The subtilisins 147 and 309 are sold under the trade names Esperase ^®, or Savinase ^® from Novozymes. They are originally from Bacillus strains with the application GB 1243784 A be revealed. Other subtilisin-type protease variants, as well as their preparation and use, are described in US Pat WO 04/083362 A2 described. From the protease from Bacillus lentus DSM 5483 ( WO 91/02792 A1 ) derive from the name under the name BLAP ^® variants, which in particular in WO 92/21760 A1 . WO 95/23221 A1 . WO 02/088340 A2 and WO 03/038082 A2 to be discribed. Other useful proteases from various Bacillus sp. and B. gibsonii go out of the patent applications WO 03/054185 A1 . WO 03/056017 A2 . WO 03/055974 A2 and WO 03/054184 A1 out.

The subtilisin DY is originally from Nedkov et al. Chem., 1985, in Biol. Chem. Hoppe-Seyler, Vol. 366, pp. 421-430.

Other usable proteases are, for example, under the trade names Durazym ^®, relase ^®, Everlase® ^®, Nafizym, Natalase ^®, Kannase® ^® and Ovozyme ^® from Novozymes, the ^® under the trade names Purafect ^®, Purafect ^® OxP, Purafect Prime and Properase.RTM ^® from Genencor, that under the trade name Protosol® ^® from Advanced Biochemicals Ltd., Thane, India, under the trade name Wuxi ^® from Wuxi Snyder Bioproducts Ltd., China, under the trade names Proleather® ^® and Protease ^P® from Amano Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Nagoya, Japan, and the enzyme available under the name Proteinase K-16 from Kao Corp., Tokyo, Japan.

Another useful protease is in the US American patent application US2004 / 0209343 A1 discloses SEQ ID NO.1 and sold under the trade name Liquanase ^® by the company Novozymes.

The proteases used in the compositions according to the invention are either originally derived from microorganisms, for example from microorganisms of the genera Bacillus, Streptomyces, Humicola or Pseudomonas, and / or are produced by biotechnological methods known per se by suitable microorganisms, for example by transgenic expression hosts of the genera Bacillus or by filamentous fungi.

The classical procedure for obtaining new enzymes is to take samples of microorganisms from natural habitats and to cultivate them under the conditions considered suitable, for example in an alkaline medium. In this way enrichment cultures of microorganisms are obtained, which with a certain probability also contain enzymes, including alkaline proteases, which are active under the conditions in question. From this, the microorganisms with the most efficient enzymes are then selected and purified or cloned, for example, by plating on proteinaceous agar plates and measuring the lysis farms formed.

Such an approach is described, for example, in the textbook "Alkalophilic Microorganisms. A new microbil world "by K. Horikoshi and T. Akiba (1982), Japan Scientific Societies Press, Springer-Verlag, New York, Heidelberg, Berlin, ISBN 0-387-10924-2, Chapter 2, pages 9-26 , For example, too WO 00/24882 A1 discloses a method for producing a gene bank obtained by culturing and thus enriching microorganism-containing samples from any habitat, for example, the rumen, under the conditions of interest, and isolating and cloning nucleic acids of interest thereto.

Thus, naturally, preferably microbially formed alkaline proteases are used in detergents and cleaners. For example, after logging in WO 93/07276 A1 those from Bacillus spec. 164-A1 Protease 164-A1 available from Chemgen Corp., Gaithersburg, MD, USA, and Vista Chemical Company, Austin, TX, USA, for use in detergents and cleaners. Other examples are the alkaline protease from Bacillus sp. PD138, NCIMB 40338 from Novozymes A / S, Bagsvaerd, Denmark, ( WO 93/18140 A1 ) derived from Bacillus sp. ferm. BP-3376-derived proteinase K-16 from Kao Corp., Tokyo, Japan, ( U.S. Patent 5,344,770 ) and according to WO 96/25489 A1 (Procter & Gamble, Cincinnati, OH, USA) the protease from the psychrophilic organism Flavobacterium balustinum.

Other alkaline proteases, which are formed by microorganisms which are isolatable from natural habitats, go for example from the applications WO 03/054185 A1 (from Bacillus gibsonii (DSM 14391)), WO 03/056017 A2 (from Bacillus sp. (DSM 14390)), WO 03/055974 A2 (from Bacillus sp. (DSM 14392)) and WO 03/054184 A1 (from Bacillus gibsonii (DSM 14393)). All of these applications also disclose corresponding detergents and cleaners containing these novel alkaline proteases.

Natural proteases are optimized by mutagenesis methods known per se, for example for use in detergents and cleaners. These include point mutagenesis, deletion, insertion or fusion with other proteins or protein parts or other modifications. The strategy of introducing targeted point mutations into the known molecules, for example to improve the washing performance of subtilisins, is also referred to as rational protein design. A similar performance improvement strategy is to change the surface charges and / or the isoelectric point of the molecules and, above that, their interactions with the substrate. Thus, for example, the net charge of the subtilisins can be changed via point mutations in order to influence the substrate binding, in particular for use in detergents and cleaners. Another, and in particular complementary, strategy is to increase the stability of the proteases in question and thereby increase their effectiveness. Stabilization via coupling to a polymer is for proteases for cosmetics, for example, in the patent US 5230891 A described; it is associated with a better skin tolerance. In contrast, stabilizers by point mutations are more common, especially for detergents and cleaners.

A modern direction of enzyme engineering is to make elements from known, related proteins via statistical methods into new enzymes with previously unattained ones To combine properties. Such methods are also summarized under the generic term Directed Evolution. These include, for example, the following methods: the StEP method (Zhao et al., 1998, Nat. Biotechnol., Vol. 16, pp. 258-261), random priming recombination (Shao et al., (1998), Nucleic Acids Res , Vol. 26, pp. 681-683), DNA shuffling (Stemmer, WPC (1994), Nature, Vol. 370, pp. 389-391) or RACHITT (Coco, WM et al., (2001) Nat. Biotechnol ., Vol. 19, pp. 354-359). Another shuffling method called recombining ligation reaction (RLR) is described in US Pat WO 00/09679 A1 described.

With regard to the use of proteases in detergents and cleaning agents it is known that proteases can be used to improve the washing or cleaning performance together with other enzymes, for example amylases, cellulases, hemicellulases, mannanases, β-glucosidases, oxidases, oxidoreductases or lipases. Likewise, the use of proteases in detergents in combination with other active ingredients such as bleaching agents or soil release agents is known in the art.

It is also known that some proteases established for use in detergents are also suitable for cosmetic purposes or for organic-chemical synthesis.

The various technical fields of application described here by way of example require proteases with different properties, such as the reaction conditions, the stability or the substrate specificity. Conversely, the technical utility of the proteases, for example in the context of a detergent formulation, depends on other factors such as stability of the enzyme to high temperatures, oxidizing agents, denaturation by surfactants, folding effects, or desired synergies with other ingredients.

Thus, there is still a high demand for technically useful proteases, which cover a wide range of properties due to the variety of their applications in their entirety to very subtle differences in performance.

The basis for this is extended by new proteases, which in turn can be further developed specifically for specific applications.

It is an object of the present invention to find further, not yet known proteases. Linked to this is a further object of the present invention to find such a further, not yet known proteases, which can be further developed specifically with regard to special fields of use. The respective wild-type enzyme should preferably be distinguished by the fact that, when used in an appropriate agent, it at least approximates the enzymes established for this purpose. In particular, the contribution to the performance of a detergent or cleaning agent was of interest.

Further objects of the present invention can be seen to provide proteases, in particular of the subtilisin type, which have improved stability with respect to the prior art to temperature influences, pH fluctuations, denaturing or oxidizing agents, proteolytic degradation, high temperatures, acidic or alkaline conditions or to a change in the redox ratios. Other tasks can be seen in a reduced immunogenicity or reduced allergenic effect.

A further particular object of the present invention was to find proteases which, at temperatures of from 20 to 60 ° C., have a good washing performance, preferably an improved washing performance, in comparison with the proteases disclosed in the prior art, in particular those of the subtilisin type, exhibit.

Another particular object of the present invention has been to find proteases which have improved detergency relative to at least one soiling, preferably with respect to multiple soils, with respect to the homologous proteases known in the art.

Other subtasks have been to provide nucleic acids encoding such proteases, and to provide vectors, host cells, and methods of production that can be used to obtain such proteases. Furthermore, appropriate means, in particular washing and cleaning agents, appropriate washing and cleaning methods and corresponding uses for such proteases should be made available. Finally, technical applications for the proteases found should be defined.

To accomplish these tasks, the nucleic acids encoding proteases, especially alkaline proteases, were themselves isolated directly from soil samples, that is, without the detour via isolation of strains. Because the nucleic acids in question in this case can not be originally assigned to a specific strain, that is to say to a specific genome, this is called metagenome DNA.

• a) Aminosäuresequenz, die zu der in SEQ ID NO.1 angegebenen Aminosäuresequenz zu mindestens 70,6% identisch ist
• b) Aminosäuresequenz, die zu der in SEQ ID NO.2 angegebenen Aminosäuresequenz zu mindestens 67,5% identisch ist.

The object is achieved according to the teaching of claim 1. An object of the invention thus form a protease comprising an amino acid sequence which is selected from the group consisting of

• a) amino acid sequence which is at least 70.6% identical to the amino acid sequence given in SEQ ID NO.1
• b) Amino acid sequence which is at least 67.5% identical to the amino acid sequence given in SEQ ID NO.

Hereby, as further subject matters of the invention, the associated nucleic acids, corresponding natural cells, suitable methods for their identification, in particular molecular biology based on the nucleic acids and process elements and means, detergents and cleaning agents, washing and cleaning processes and applications characterized by the proteases concerned associated.

Already the enzyme indicated in SEQ ID NO.1 has a proteolytic activity, so that the proteases are to be regarded as suitable for their use in detergents and cleaners. Due to the DNA provided, an additional optimization of this enzyme is possible, for example via further point mutations. Furthermore, this DNA can be incorporated into shuffling approaches and thus used to generate completely new proteases.

For the purposes of the present application, an enzyme is to be understood as meaning a protein which has a specific biocatalytic function. For the purposes of the present application, protease is understood as meaning an enzyme which catalyzes the hydrolysis of peptide bonds and is thereby able to cleave peptides or proteins.

For the purposes of the present application, a protein is a polymer composed of the natural amino acids and has a largely linear structure, assuming the function of a mostly three-dimensional structure to perform its function. H. a polypeptide to understand. In the present application, the proteinogenic, naturally occurring L-amino acids are designated by the internationally used 1- and 3-letter codes. Numerous proteins are formed as so-called pre-proteins, ie together with a signal peptide. By this is meant the N-terminal part of the protein, the function of which is usually to ensure the discharge of the protein formed from the producing cell into the periplasm or the surrounding medium and / or its correct folding. Subsequently, the signal peptide is cleaved under natural conditions by a signal peptidase from the rest of the protein, so that this exerts its actual catalytic activity without the initially present N-terminal amino acids. Pro-proteins are inactive precursors of proteins. Their signal sequence precursors are referred to as pre-pro proteins. For technical applications due to their enzymatic activity are the maturen, d. H. mature peptides, d. H. preference is given to the enzymes processed after their preparation in preference to the preproteins. The proteins may be modified by the cells producing them after production of the polypeptide chain, for example, by attachment of sugar molecules, formylations, aminations, etc. Such modifications are referred to as post-translational modifications. These post-translational modifications may or may not have an effect on the function of the protein.

For the purposes of the present invention, all enzymes, proteins, fragments and derivatives, unless they need to be addressed explicitly as such, are summarized under the generic term proteins. By comparison with known enzymes, which are deposited for example in generally accessible databases, the enzymatic activity of a considered enzyme can be deduced from the amino acid or nucleotide sequence. This can be qualitatively or quantitatively modified by other regions of the protein that are not involved in the actual reaction. This could, for example, relate to enzyme stability, activity, reaction conditions or substrate specificity.

Such a comparison is accomplished by associating similar sequences in the nucleotide or amino acid sequences of the proteins of interest. This is called homologization. A The tabular assignment of the relevant positions is referred to as alignment. In the analysis of nucleotide sequences, in turn, both complementary strands and all three possible reading frames are to be taken into account; as well as the degeneracy of the genetic code and the organism-specific use of codons (codon usage). Meanwhile, alignments are created using computer programs, such as the algorithms FASTA or BLAST; This procedure is described, for example, by DJ Lipman and WR Pearson (1985) in Science, Vol. 227, pp. 1435-1441.

A summary of all matching positions in the compared sequences is called a consensus sequence.

Such a comparison also allows a statement about the similarity or homology of the compared sequences to each other. This is represented in percent identity, that is the proportion of identical nucleotides or amino acid residues at the same or in an alignment corresponding positions. A broader concept of homology includes the conserved amino acid substitutions in this value. It then speaks of percent similarity. Such statements can be made about whole proteins or genes or only over individual areas.

Homologous regions of different proteins are defined by matches in amino acid sequence. These can also be identified by identical function. It goes as far as complete identities in the smallest areas, so-called boxes, which contain only a few amino acids and usually perform essential functions for the overall activity. The functions of the homologous regions are to be understood as the smallest partial functions of the function carried out by the entire protein, such as, for example, the formation of individual hydrogen bonds for the complexation of a substrate or transition complex.

The amino acid sequences according to the invention have, as described in the examples for the present application, been derived from nucleic acids which have been isolated from a proteolytically active bacterium from a soil sample and directly from a soil sample in the context of so-called metgenome screening.

A nucleic acid sequence according to the invention is indicated under SEQ ID NO. This nucleic acid codes for a polypeptide which has a subtilisin-typical division into signal peptide, propeptide and mature protease. The full-length protein is given under SEQ ID NO. 2 and the mature protease under SEQ ID NO. By this is meant the actually active mature protein, because this exerts the technically relevant function. Therefore, the amino acid sequence of the mature, active protease is particularly preferred.

As shown in Example 3, this protease was added to the "Non-redundant Genbank" (Altschul, Stephan F., Thomas L. Madden, Alejandro A. Schaffer, Jinghui Zhang, Hheng Zhang, Webb Miller, and David J. Lipman (1997): "Gapped BLAST and PSI-BLAST: a new generation of protein database search programs"; Nucleic Acids Res., 25, pp. 3389-3402.) Performed a homology comparison with the previously known proteases.

The protease TA39 was identified as the next-described enzyme (Genbank entry SUBT_BACS9). Like all subsequent homology values via the computer program Vector NTI ^® Suite 7.0, available from InforMax, Inc., Bethesda, USA, determined with the specified default parameters identity at the amino acid level is 70.5% (cf. 1 ), based on the mature enzyme according to SEQ ID NO.1. Thus, the protease found is a new enzyme. Thus, all proteases that are at least 70.6% identical to SEQ ID NO.1 can be included in the scope of protection. To the established Bacillus lentus alkaline protease ( WO 97/21760 A1 ) gives an identity of only 35.4% over the length of this alkaline protease at the amino acid level, again based on the mature enzyme. Based on the total length protein according to SEQ ID NO. 2 and the total length protein according to Genbank entry SUBT_BACS9, all proteases which are at least 67.5% identical to SEQ ID NO. 2 can be included in the scope of protection.

• a) Aminosäuresequenz, die zu der in SEQ ID NO.1 angegebenen Aminosäuresequenz zunehmend bevorzugt zu mindestens 72,5%, 75%, 77,5%, 80%, 82,5%, 85%, 87,5%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99% und ganz besonders bevorzugt zu 100% identisch ist.
• b) Aminosäuresequenz, die zu der in SEQ ID NO.2 angegebenen Aminosäuresequenz zunehmend bevorzugt zu mindestens 70%, 72,5%, 75%, 77,5%, 80%, 82,5%, 85%, 87,5%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99% und ganz besonders bevorzugt zu 100% identisch ist.

In a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the protease is characterized in that it comprises an amino acid sequence which is selected from the group consisting of

• a) Amino acid sequence which is more preferably at least 72.5%, 75%, 77.5%, 80%, 82.5%, 85%, 87.5%, 90% to the amino acid sequence given in SEQ ID NO.1 , 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99%, and most preferably 100% identical.
• b) an amino acid sequence which is more preferably at least 70%, 72.5%, 75%, 77.5%, 80%, 82.5%, 85%, 87.5%, of the amino acid sequence given in SEQ ID NO. , 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99%, and most preferably 100% identical.

Proteins can also be grouped into groups of immunologically related proteins by reaction with an antiserum or antibody. The members of a group are characterized by being recognized by a particular antibody or antiserum. They therefore have at least one common epitope or an antigenic determinant, which is recognized by the respective antibody or the formation of such an antibody in an immunization with the respective protein induced, for example in the immunization of an experimental animal such as a mouse, rat , Hamster, rabbit, goat or sheep.

A further subject of the invention therefore proteases, which are characterized in that they have at least one and increasingly preferably two, three or four matching antigenic determinants with a protease according to the invention.

In a further embodiment of the invention, a protease according to the invention is naturally present in an organism which is isolable from a natural habitat.

This embodiment is particularly advantageous because then the associated organism itself can be taken into culture. Advantageously, the proteases of the invention can then be isolated from their cell extracts or culture supernatants and prepared.

Of these, those proteases are preferred, wherein the said organism is a microorganism, preferably a fungus, a Gram-negative or a Gram-positive bacterium, and of these particularly preferably one of the genus Bacillus.

Because especially for these organisms cultivation methods are known and established in the prior art. This is especially true for Bacilli, which play a prominent role in the technical production of enzymes. Also in the case of the nucleic acid obtained as part of a metagenome screening method, as described in the examples, it is to be assumed that the isolated DNA has been formed by a natural organism and also codes in vivo for a functional protein.

Proteases or enzymes in general can be prepared by various methods, e.g. For example, targeted genetic modification by mutagenesis, further developed and for certain applications or specific properties, such as catalytic activity, stability, etc., to be optimized. Changes in the nucleotide sequence, as can be brought about, for example, by molecular biological methods known per se, are accordingly termed mutations. Depending on the nature of the change, for example, deletion, insertion or substitution mutations or those in which different genes or parts of genes are shuffled together; these are gene mutations. The associated organisms are called mutants. The proteins derived from mutant nucleic acids are called variants. Thus, for example, deletion, insertion, substitution mutations or fusions lead to deletion, insertion, substitution mutated or fusion genes and at the protein level to corresponding deletion, insertion or substitution variants or fusion proteins.

For the description of point mutations which concern exactly one amino acid position (amino acid substitutions), the following convention is used: first, the naturally occurring amino acid is designated in the form of the international one-letter code, followed by the associated sequence position and finally the inserted amino acid. Several exchanges within the same polypeptide chain are separated by slashes.

It is also well known in the art that beneficial properties of individual mutations, e.g. B. single point mutations, can complement. An already optimized with respect to certain properties protease, for example, in terms of their stability to surfactants or other components, according to the invention can be further developed.

Fragments are understood as meaning all proteins or peptides which are smaller than natural proteins and, for example, can be obtained synthetically. Due to their amino acid sequences, they can be assigned to the relevant complete proteins. For example, they may adopt the same structures or perform proteolytic or partial activities, such as the complexation of a substrate. Fragments and deletion variants of starting proteins are in principle similar; while fragments tend to be smaller fragments, the deletion mutants tend to lack only short regions, and thus only individual subfunctions.

For the purposes of the present application, chimeric or hybrid proteins are understood as meaning those proteins whose sequence comprises the sequences or partial sequences of at least two starting proteins. The source proteins may be derived from different or from the same organism. Chimeric or hybrid proteins may be obtained, for example, by recombinant mutagenesis. For example, the purpose of such recombination may be to induce or modify a particular enzymatic function using the fused protein portion. For the purposes of the present invention, it is irrelevant whether such a chimeric protein consists of a single polypeptide chain or several subunits to which different functions can be distributed.

By proteins obtained by insertion mutation are meant those variants obtained by inserting a protein fragment into the starting sequences. They are due to their principle similarity to the chimeric proteins. They differ from those only in the size ratio of the unchanged protein part to the size of the entire protein. In such insertionsmutierten proteins, the proportion of foreign protein is lower than in chimeric proteins.

Inversion mutagenesis, ie a partial sequence reversal, can be regarded as a special form of both the deletion and the insertion. The same applies to a new grouping of different parts of the molecule which deviates from the original amino acid sequence. It can be regarded as a deletion variant, as an insertion variant, as well as a shuffling variant of the original protein.

For the purposes of the present application, derivatives are understood as meaning those proteins whose pure amino acid chain has been chemically modified. Such derivatizations can be carried out, for example, biologically in connection with protein biosynthesis by the host cell. For this molecular biological methods can be used. However, they can also be carried out chemically, for example by the chemical transformation of a side chain of an amino acid or by covalent binding of another compound to the protein. Such a compound may, for example, also be other proteins which are bound, for example via bifunctional chemical compounds, to proteins according to the invention. Such modifications may, for example, affect the substrate specificity or binding strength to the substrate or cause a temporary blockage of the enzymatic activity when the coupled substance is an inhibitor. This can be useful, for example, for the period of storage. Also, derivatization is understood to mean covalent attachment to a macromolecular carrier, as well as noncovalent inclusion in suitable macromolecular cage structures.

A further subject of the invention thus represents a protease, which is characterized in that it is obtainable from a protease according to the invention as the starting molecule by fragmentation, deletion, insertion or substitution mutagenesis and an amino acid sequence which extends over a length of at least 265 and increasingly preferably at least 260, 250, 240, 230, 220, 210, 200, 190, 180, 170, 160, 150, 140, 130, 120, 110, 100, 90, 80, 70, 60 and 50 contiguous amino acid positions with the parent molecule matches.

Thus, for example, it is possible to delete individual amino acids at the termini or in the loops of the enzyme without losing the proteolytic activity. Such mutations are for example in WO 99/49057 A1 described. WO 01/07575 A2 teaches that such deletions lower the allergenicity of proteases involved, and thus their overall usefulness can be improved. Fragmentation benefits the insertion or substitution mutagenesis aspect outlined below and / or possible fusion with other enzymes. With regard to the intended use of these enzymes, it is particularly preferred if they also have a proteolytic activity after fragmentation or deletion mutagenesis.

Numerous prior art documents disclose beneficial effects of insertions and substitutions in subtilases; including the publications WO 99/49057 A1 and WO 01/07575 A2 , in principle This includes individual substitutions of amino acids, but it can also be several contiguous amino acids exchanged for others. This also includes recombinations of larger enzyme sections, such as the above-mentioned fragments, with other proteases or proteins of a different function. For example, it is based on WO 99/57254 A1 it is possible to provide a protein of the invention or parts thereof via peptidic linkers or directly as a fusion protein with binding domains of other proteins, such as the cellulose-binding domain, thereby making the hydrolysis of the substrate more effective. Likewise, proteins according to the invention can also be linked with amylases or cellulases, for example, in order to perform a dual function.

A further subject of the invention is a protease, which is characterized in that it is obtainable from a protease according to the invention as the starting molecule and has one or more amino acid substitutions in positions which correspond to the positions 3, 4, 36, 42, 47, 56, 61 , 69, 87, 96, 99, 101, 102, 104, 114, 118, 120, 130, 139, 141, 142, 154, 157, 188, 193, 199, 205, 211, 224, 229, 236, 237 , 242, 243, 255 and 268 of the Bacillus lentus alkaline protease according to SEQ ID NO. 5 in an alignment. The amino acid positions are assigned here by an alignment of the amino acid sequence of a protease according to the invention with the amino acid sequence of the alkaline protease from Bacillus lentus, as indicated in SEQ ID NO. In this way, so-called homologous positions are determined. An example of such an alignment is in 1 specified.

A final confirmation in the assignment of homologous positions, ie in particular their functional correspondence, can ultimately only provide comparative experiments, according to which the two positions assigned to each other on the basis of an alignment in both compared proteases are point mutated in the same way and observed whether in both the enzymatic activity is changed in the same way. For example, if an amino acid exchange in a particular position of B. lentus alkaline protease (BLAP WT in the alignment in FIG 1 ) is accompanied by an increase in BM or another enzymatic parameter, and the same shift in the K _M value is tended to be observed in a protease variant according to the invention whose amino acid exchange has been achieved by the same introduced amino acid, the confirmation of this aspect of the invention is to be seen herein ,

In said positions, the B. lentus alkaline protease wildtype molecule has the following amino acid residues: S3, V4, S36, N42, A47, T56, G61, T69, E87, A96, R99, A101, I102, S104, N114, H118, A120, S130, S139, T141, S142, S154, S157, A188, V193, V199, G205, L211, A224, K229, S236, N237, N242, H243, N255 and T268, respectively.

In addition to the Bacillus licheniformis alkaline protease or the Bacillus amyloliquefaciens alkaline protease, the Bacillus lentus alkaline protease in the prior art is an important reference molecule for describing new proteases and point mutations, and the novel proteases described herein and hence their sequence are heretofore unknown , it appears advantageous in the assignment of the point mutations on this count, d. H. the count of Bacillus lentus alkaline protease. On the other hand, the count is generally based on the mature (mature) protein.

From the registration WO 92/21760 A1 single and multiple variants of the subtilisin from Bacillus lentus DSM 5483 are evident in the following positions: 3, 4, 36, 42, 47, 56, 69, 87, 96, 101, 102, 104, 114, 118, 120, 130, 139 , 141, 142, 157, 188, 193, 199, 205, 224, 229, 236, 237, 242, 243, 255 and 268. The application WO 95/23221 A1 additionally discloses exchanges of this molecule in positions 99, 154 and 211, in particular R99G, R99A, R99S, S154D, S154E, L211D and L211E. Such variants are suitable for registration WO 95/07770 A1 especially for use in cosmetics. In addition to other exchange is in the registration WO 02/088340 A2 also described the replacement L211G, and in WO 03/038082 A2 the exchange G61A.

Of these, accordingly preferred are those in which the further amino acid substitutions in one or more of the positions 3, 4, 61, 188, 193, 199 and 211 are present.

Among these, according to what has been stated above, those which are one or more of the amino acid substitutions 3T, 4I, 61A, 188P, 193M, 199I and 211D or 211G are again preferred, provided that the corresponding homologous positions are not already naturally of one of these preferred amino acids be taken.

The exchanges S3T and V4I lead, in particular in WO 02/088340 A2 is likely to have a stabilizing effect on the molecule to improve its contribution to the washing performance of a detergent or cleaning agent.

Another object of the invention is a protease described above, which is additionally stabilized, in particular by coupling to a polymer.

An increase in stability during storage and / or during use, for example during the washing process, means that their activity lasts longer and is thus enhanced in their effect. Possible stabilization options are all strategies described in the prior art and suitable strategies, for example according to FIG US 5230891 A the covalent coupling to a polymer.

Alternatively, those stabilizations are also suitable which are possible by means of point mutagenesis of the molecule itself (and because of the sequence differences already fall under the embodiments described above). Because these stabilizations require after the protein recovery no further steps. Some point mutations suitable for this purpose are known per se from the prior art. So can according to US 6087315 A and US 6110884 A Proteases are stabilized by replacing certain tyrosine residues with others.

• – Veränderung der Bindung von Metallionen, insbesondere der Calcium-Bindungsstellen, beispielsweise gemäß der Lehre der Anmeldungen WO 88/08028 A1 und WO 88/08033 A1 ; gemäß der ersten dieser Schriften müßten eine oder mehrere der an der Calcium-Bindung beteiligten Aminosäure-Reste gegen negativ geladene Aminosäuren ausgetauscht werden; gemäß der Lehre der Anmeldung WO 88/08033A1 müßten zur Stabilisierung über die Calcium-Bindung gleichzeitig in mindestens einer der Folgen der beiden Reste Arginin/Glycin Punktmutationen eingeführt werden;
• – Gemäß dem Patent US 5453372 A können Proteine durch bestimmte Mutationen auf der Oberfläche gegen den Einfluß von denaturierenden Agentien wie Tensiden geschützt werden.

Other options include:

• - Modification of the binding of metal ions, in particular the calcium binding sites, for example according to the teaching of the applications WO 88/08028 A1 and WO 88/08033 A1 ; according to the first of these documents, one or more of the amino acid residues involved in the calcium binding would have to be exchanged for negatively charged amino acids; according to the teaching of the application WO 88 / 08033A1 For stabilization via the calcium binding, point mutations would have to be introduced simultaneously in at least one of the sequences of the two residues arginine / glycine;
• - According to the patent US 5453372 A For example, proteins may be protected against the influence of denaturing agents such as surfactants by certain surface mutations.

Another way to stabilize against elevated temperature and the action of surfactants would be in application of the teaching WO 92/21760 A1 . WO 02/088340 A2 and WO 03/038082 A2 the stabilization through the exchange of amino acids that are close to the N-terminus, against those that presumably come into contact with the rest of the molecule via non-covalent interactions and thus contribute to the maintenance of the globular structure.

Preferred embodiments are those in which the molecule is stabilized in several ways. For example, after WO 89/09819 A1 It can be assumed that several stabilizing mutations have an additive or synergistic effect.

A protease as described above may have at least one chemical modification. A protease with such a change is also called a derivative, i. H. the protease is derivatized.

Derivatives are therefore understood as meaning those proteins which are obtained by additional modification from the exported proteins. This is preferably a chemical modification of the proteins according to the invention. Such modifications may affect, for example, stability, substrate specificity, or binding strength to the substrate or enzymatic activity. They can also serve to reduce the allergenicity and / or immunogenicity of the protein and thus, for example, increase its skin compatibility.

Such derivatizations, in particular chemical modifications, can be carried out, for example, by biological means, for example in connection with protein biosynthesis by the producing host organism. Here, couplings of low molecular weight compounds such as lipids or oligosaccharides are particularly noteworthy.

However, derivatizations can also be carried out chemically, for example by the chemical transformation of a side chain or by covalent bonding of another, for example macromolecular, compound to the protein. Such a chemical modification is for example in the application DE 4013142 A1 described. For example, the coupling of amines to carboxyl groups of an enzyme to change the isoelectric point goes out WO 95/26398 A1 out. It can For example, macromolecules such as proteins, for example via bifunctional chemical compounds are bound to proteins of the invention. So it is for example in application of the doctrine of WO 99/57154 A1 it is possible to provide a protein according to the invention also with a specific binding domain via a nonprotein linker. Such derivatives are particularly suitable for use in detergents or cleaners. Analogous WO 00/01831 A2 Protease inhibitors can also be linked to the proteins according to the invention via linkers, in particular amino acid linkers. Couplings with other macromolecular compounds such as polyethylene glycol improve the molecule in terms of other properties such as stability or skin compatibility as already explained above.

Derivatives of proteins according to the invention can in the broadest sense also be understood to mean preparations of these enzymes. Depending on the extraction, processing or preparation, a protein may be associated with various other substances, for example from the culture of the producing microorganisms. A protein may also have been deliberately added to certain other substances, for example to increase its storage stability. Therefore, all preparations of a protein according to the invention are also according to the invention. This is also independent of whether or not it actually exhibits this enzymatic activity in a particular preparation. Because it may be desired that it has no or only low activity during storage, and unfolds its proteolytic function only at the time of use. This can be controlled, for example, via appropriate accompanying substances. In particular, the joint preparation of proteases with protease inhibitors is advantageous and known from the prior art ( WO 00/01826 A2 ).

The solution of a partial task and thus an independent subject of the invention form nucleic acid molecules which code for a protease according to the invention as well as vectors containing such a nucleic acid.

For the purposes of the present application, nucleic acids are understood to mean the molecules which are naturally constructed from nucleotides and serve as information carriers, which code for the linear amino acid sequence in proteins or enzymes. They can be present as a single strand, as a single strand that is complementary to this single strand, or as a double strand. As the naturally more durable information carrier, the nucleic acid DNA is preferred for molecular biology work. In contrast, for the realization of the invention in a natural environment, such as in an expressing cell, an RNA is formed, which is why essential RNA molecules of the invention are also embodiments of the present invention.

For DNA, consider the sequences of both complementary strands in all three possible reading frames. Further, it should be appreciated that different codon triplets may encode the same amino acids so that a particular amino acid sequence may be derived from a plurality of different and possibly low identity nucleotide sequences, which is referred to as the degeneracy of the genetic code. In addition, various organisms have differences in the use of these codons. For these reasons, both amino acid sequences and nucleotide sequences must be included in the consideration of the scope. Therefore, all nucleotide sequences are included in the invention which can encode any of the oxidases described above. The skilled person is able to determine these nucleotide sequences beyond doubt, because despite the degeneracy of the genetic code individual codons defined amino acids are assigned. Therefore, one of ordinary skill in the art, on the basis of one example, may be considered only as an exemplary coding for a particular amino acid sequence.

The information unit corresponding to a protein is also referred to as gene within the meaning of the present application.

A person skilled in the art can use well-known methods such as chemical synthesis or the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in combination with molecular biological and / or proteinchemical standard methods, using known DNA and / or amino acid sequences, the corresponding nucleic acids to complete genes manufacture. Such methods are known, for example, from Sambrook, J., Fritsch, E.F. and Maniatis, T. 2001. Molecular cloning: a laboratory manual, 3rd Edition Cold Spring Laboratory Press.

Changes in the nucleotide sequence, as can be brought about, for example, by molecular biological methods known per se, are referred to as mutations. Depending on the nature of the change, one knows, for example, deletion, insertion or substitution mutations or those in which different genes or parts of genes are fused together or recombined; these are gene mutations. The associated organisms are called mutants. The proteins derived from mutant nucleic acids are called variants. Thus, for example, deletion, insertion substitution mutations or fusions lead to deletion, insertion-substitution-mutated or fusion genes and, at the protein level, to corresponding deletion, insertion or substitution variants or fusion proteins.

• a) Nukleinsäuresequenz, die zu der in SEQ ID NO.3 angegebenen Nukleinsäuresequenz in einem Teilstück von mindestens 300 zusammenhängenden Nukleotiden mindestens zu 72,5% identisch ist
• b) Nukleinsäuresequenz, die zu der in SEQ ID NO.3 angegebenen Nukleinsäuresequenz in den Positionen 364 bis 1290 mindestens zu 70,6% identisch ist
• c) Nukleinsäuresequenz, die zu der in SEQ ID NO.3 angegebenen Nukleinsäuresequenz über die gesamte Länge mindestens zu 59,5% identisch ist.

In a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the nucleic acid molecule which codes for a protease according to the invention is characterized in that it comprises a nucleic acid sequence which is selected from the group consisting of

• a) nucleic acid sequence which is at least 72.5% identical to the nucleic acid sequence given in SEQ ID NO. 3 in a section of at least 300 contiguous nucleotides
• b) Nucleic acid sequence which is at least 70.6% identical to the nucleic acid sequence indicated in SEQ ID NO.3 in positions 364 to 1290
• c) Nucleic acid sequence which is at least 59.5% identical to the nucleic acid sequence given in SEQ ID NO. 3 over its entire length.

In further embodiments of the invention, the nucleic acid molecule is characterized in that it comprises a nucleic acid sequence which corresponds to the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO. 3 nucleic acid sequence in a portion of increasingly preferably 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900, 1000, 1100 contiguous nucleic acid residues is at least 70.6% identical. In a further embodiment of the invention, the nucleic acid molecule is characterized in that it comprises a nucleic acid sequence which corresponds to the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO. 3 identified nucleic acid sequence is at least 70.6% identical.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the nucleic acid molecule coding for a protease according to the invention is characterized in that it comprises a nucleic acid sequence which is increasingly preferably at least 72 to the nucleic acid sequence given in SEQ ID NO.3 in a segment of at least 300 contiguous nucleotides , 5%, 75%, 77.5%, 80%, 82.5%, 85%, 87.5%, 90%, 92.5%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99% and most preferably 100% identical.

In further embodiments of the invention, the nucleic acid molecule which codes for a protease according to the invention is characterized in that it comprises a nucleic acid sequence which corresponds to the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO. 3 nucleic acid sequence in a portion of increasingly preferably 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900, 1000, 1100 contiguous nucleic acid residues increasingly preferably at least 72.5%, 75%, 77.5%, 80%, 82.5% , 85%, 87.5%, 90%, 92.5%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99%, and most preferably 100% identical.

In a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the nucleic acid molecule which codes for a protease according to the invention is characterized in that it comprises a nucleic acid sequence which corresponds to the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO. 3, more preferably at least 72.5%, 75%, 77.5%, 80%, 82.5%, 85%, 87.5%, 90%, 92.5%, of the nucleic acid sequence in positions 364 to 1290, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99% and most preferably 100% identical. By these positions is meant, as explained above, the region coding for the mature, that is, active protein. Also, the stop codon is included, because its existence ensures that not a larger, possibly no longer functional, unwanted fusion protein is formed. Thus, in the case of cloning, care must be taken to ensure that a stop codon is also present at this point, if no targeted protein fusion is to be induced via the C-terminus. Should it later turn out that the mature protein is only formed by a part of this sequence, the scope of protection applies accordingly to this part.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the nucleic acid molecule is characterized in that it comprises a nucleic acid sequence which corresponds to the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO. 3 over the entire length of the nucleic acid sequence increasingly more preferably at least 60%, 65%, 70%, 72.5%, 75%, 77.5%, 80%, 82.5%, 85%, 87.5%, 90 %, 92.5%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99%, and most preferably 100% identical.

Preference is given to those nucleic acids which code for mature proteins, and those which code for increasingly active variants of the proteins according to the invention are increasingly preferred.

Further preferred are those nucleic acids of which one or preferably several codons have been replaced by synonymous codons.

This aspect relates to the heterologous expression of the proteases in question. Thus every organism, especially every production strain, has a certain codon usage. This can lead to bottlenecks in protein biosynthesis, if the lying on the transgenic nucleic acid codons in the host cell of a relatively small number of loaded tRNAs face. Synonymous codons encode the same amino acids and can be better translated depending on the host. This possibly necessary rewriting thus depends on the choice of the expression system. Especially with samples from unknown, possibly non-cultivable organisms, a corresponding adaptation may be necessary.

This includes all types of compositions, especially mixtures, formulations, solutions, etc., the utility of which is improved by addition of a protein of the invention described above, within the scope of the present invention. Depending on the field of application, these may be, for example, solid mixtures, for example powders with freeze-dried or encapsulated proteins, or gel or liquid agents. Preferred formulations contain, for example, buffer substances, stabilizers, reaction partners and / or cofactors of the proteases and / or other ingredients synergistic with the proteases. In particular, this appropriation is to be understood as the areas of application set out below. Further fields of application emerge from the prior art and are described, for example, in the manual "Industrial Enzymes and their Applications" by H. Uhlig, Wiley-Verlag, New York, 1998.

In preferred embodiments of the invention, an agent according to the invention is characterized in that it comprises a detergent, hand washing detergent, dishwashing detergent, hand dishwashing detergent, machine dishwashing detergent, cleaning agent, denture or contact lens care agent, rinse aid, disinfectant, cosmetic agent, pharmaceutical agent or a means for treating filter media, textiles , Furs, paper, skins or leather, is.

This subject of the invention are attributed as a preferred embodiment means, which are detergents or cleaning agents.

As shown in the exemplary embodiments of the present application, it was possible to ascertain an increase in performance compared with a protease-free agent for detergents and cleaners with a protease which is preferred according to the invention, and a very good cleaning performance with regard to protease-sensitive soiling can be achieved.

This subject matter of the invention includes all conceivable types of detergents, both concentrates and agents to be used undiluted, for use on a commercial scale, in the washing machine or in hand washing or cleaning. These include, for example, detergents for textiles, carpets, or natural fibers, for which according to the present invention the term laundry detergent is used. These include, for example, dishwashing detergents for dishwashers or manual dishwashing detergents or cleaners for hard surfaces such as metal, glass, porcelain, ceramics, tiles, stone, painted surfaces, plastics, wood or leather; for such according to the present invention, the term cleaning agent is used.

An agent according to the invention can be either a means for large consumers or technical users as well as a product for the private consumer, wherein all types of detergents and cleaning agents established in the prior art also constitute embodiments of the present invention. These include, for example, concentrates and undiluted agents for use on a commercial scale, in the washing machine or in hand washing or cleaning. Likewise, for example, laundry detergents for textiles, carpets, or natural fibers, for which according to the present invention, the term detergent is used. Furthermore, these include, for example, dishwashing detergents for dishwashers or manual dishwashing detergents or cleaners for hard surfaces such as metal, glass, porcelain, ceramics, tiles, stone, painted surfaces, plastics, wood or leather; for such according to the present invention, the term cleaning agent is used.

Embodiments of the present invention include all established and / or all appropriate dosage forms. These include, for example, solid, powdery, liquid, gelatinous or pasty agents, which may optionally also consist of several phases and may be present in compressed or uncompressed form. Another subject of the invention are therefore agents which are characterized in that they are present as a one-component system. Such means preferably consist of one phase. Of course, means according to the invention may also consist of several phases. A further subject of the invention therefore form means which are characterized in that they are divided into several components. The dosage forms according to the invention also include extrudates, granules, tablets or pouches, which may be present both in large packages and in portions. Preferably, an agent according to the invention is characterized in that it contains the protease in an amount of from 2 μg to 20 mg, preferably from 5 μg to 17.5 mg, more preferably from 20 μg to 15 mg and most preferably from 50 μg to 10 mg contains per g of the agent.

Compositions of the invention may be in solid form. Another object of the invention are therefore agents which are characterized in that they are in solid form. In a preferred embodiment, the agent is present as a free-flowing powder having a bulk density of 300 g / l to 1200 g / l, in particular 500 g / l to 900 g / l or 600 g / l to 850 g / l.

Alternatively, agents according to the invention may also be liquid or pasty. Another object of the invention, the agent is therefore characterized in that it is present in pasty or liquid form, in particular in the form of a non-aqueous liquid detergent or a non-aqueous paste or in the form of an aqueous liquid detergent or a water-containing paste.

The agent according to the invention, in particular washing or cleaning agent, can be packaged in a container, preferably an air-permeable container, from which it is released shortly before use or during the washing process, in particular the protease and / or further ingredients of the composition can be combined with a Enveloped at room temperature or in the absence of water for the enzyme, which becomes permeable to the enzyme under conditions of use of the agent. The agent is thus characterized in that the protease is coated with a substance which is impermeable to the protease at room temperature or in the absence of water.

Compositions according to the invention may contain only one protease. Alternatively, they may also contain other proteases or other enzymes in a concentration effective for the effectiveness of the agent. A further subject of the invention thus represents agents which further comprise one or more further enzymes, wherein in principle all enzymes established in the prior art for these purposes can be used. Preferred enzymes which can be used as enzymes are all enzymes which can display catalytic activity in the agent according to the invention, in particular proteases, amylases, cellulases, hemicellulases, mannanases, tannases, xylanases, xanthanases, .beta.-glucosidases, carrageenases, oxidases, oxidoreductases or lipases preferably their mixtures. These enzymes are basically of natural origin; Starting from the natural molecules, improved variants are available for use in detergents and cleaners, which are preferably used accordingly. ^{Compositions according} to the invention preferably contain enzymes in total amounts of 1 × 10 ^-8 to 5 percent by weight based on active protein. Preferably, the enzymes are from 0.001 to 5% by weight, more preferably from 0.01 to 5% by weight, even more preferably from 0.05 to 4% by weight and most preferably from 0.075 to 3.5% by weight. % contained in agents according to the invention, wherein each enzyme contained can be present in the stated proportions.

The protein concentration can be determined by known methods, for example the BOA method (bicinchoninic acid, 2,2'-biquinolyl-4,4'-dicarboxylic acid) or the biuret method (AG Gornall, CS Bardawill and MM David, J. Biol. Chem., 177 (1948), pp. 751-766). The further enzymes particularly preferably support the effect of the agent, for example the cleaning performance of a washing or cleaning agent, with regard to certain stains or stains. Most preferably, the enzymes exhibit synergistic effects on their action against certain soils or stains, i. H. the enzymes contained in the middle composition mutually support each other in their cleaning performance. Synergistic effects can occur not only between different enzymes, but also between one or more enzymes and other ingredients of the composition according to the invention. In a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the agent according to the invention is therefore characterized in that it contains at least one further enzyme which comprises a protease, amylase, cellulase, hemicellulase, mannanase, tannase, xylanase, xanthanase, β-glucosidase, carrageenase, oxidase, oxidoreductase or a lipase.

The enzymes used in the compositions according to the invention are either originally derived from microorganisms, such as the genera Bacillus, Streptomyces, Humicola or Pseudomonas, and / or are produced by biotechnological methods known per se by suitable microorganisms, for example by transgenic expression hosts of the genera Bacillus or by filamentous fungi ,

In agents according to the invention, the protease according to the invention is combined, for example, with one or more of the following ingredients: nonionic, anionic and / or cationic surfactants, (optionally further) bleaching agents, bleach activators, bleach catalysts, builders and / or cobuilders, acids, alkaline substances, hydrotropes, solvents , Thickeners, sequestering agents, electrolytes, optical brighteners, grayness inhibitors, corrosion inhibitors, especially silver protectants (silver corrosion inhibitors), soil release agents, color transfer (or transfer) inhibitors, foam inhibitors, abrasives, dyes, fragrances, perfumes, antimicrobial agents, UV- Protectants or antacids, antistatic agents, pearlescers and skin protection agents, enzymes such as protease, amylase, cellulase, hemicellulase, mannanase, tannase, xylanase, xanthanase, β-glucosidase, carrageenase, oxidase, oxidoreductase or a lipase, Stabili in particular enzyme stabilizers, and other components known in the art. In a further embodiment of the invention, an agent according to the invention is therefore characterized in that it contains at least one further component selected from the group consisting of surfactants, builders, acids, alkaline substances, hydrotropes, solvents, thickeners, bleaching agents, dyes, perfumes, corrosion inhibitors , Sequestering agents, electrolytes, optical brighteners, grayness inhibitors, silver corrosion inhibitors, color transfer inhibitors, foam inhibitors, abrasives, UV absorbers, solvents, antistatic agents, pearlescing agents and skin protection agents.

The ingredients to be selected as well as the conditions under which the agent is used, such as temperature, pH, ionic strength, redox ratios or mechanical influences, should be optimized for the respective cleaning problem. For example, normal temperatures for detergents and cleaners range from 10 ° C for manual agents above 40 ° C and 60 ° C up to 95 ° for mechanical or technical applications. Since the temperature is usually infinitely adjustable in modern washing machines and dishwashers, all intermediate stages of the temperature are included. Preferably, the ingredients of the respective agents are coordinated. Synergies in terms of cleaning performance are preferred. Particularly preferred in this regard are synergies which are present in a temperature range between 20.degree. C. and 60.degree. C., since the protease contained in the agents according to the invention is catalytically active in this temperature range.

• – 5 Gew.-% bis 70 Gew.-%, insbesondere 5 Gew.-% bis 30 Gew.-% Tenside und/oder
• – 10 Gew.-% bis 65 Gew.-%, insbesondere 12 Gew.-% bis 60 Gew. -% wasserlösliches oder wasserdispergierbares anorganisches Buildermaterial und/oder
• – 0,5 Gew.-% bis 10 Gew.-%, insbesondere 1 Gew.-% bis 8 Gew.-%, wasserlösliche organische Buildersubstanzen und/oder
• – 0,01 bis 15 Gew.-% feste anorganische und/oder organische Säuren beziehungsweise saure Salze und/oder
• – 0,01 bis 5 Gew.-% Komplexbildner für Schwermetalle und/oder
• – 0,01 bis 5 Gew.-% Vergrauungsinhibitor und/oder
• – 0,01 bis 5 Gew. -% Farbübertragungsinhibitor und/oder
• – 0,01 bis 5 Gew.-% Schauminhibitor.

In a further preferred embodiment, an agent according to the invention, in particular a washing or cleaning agent, furthermore comprises

• - 5 wt .-% to 70 wt .-%, in particular 5 wt .-% to 30 wt .-% of surfactants and / or
• From 10% by weight to 65% by weight, in particular from 12% by weight to 60% by weight, of water-soluble or water-dispersible inorganic builder material and / or
• From 0.5% by weight to 10% by weight, in particular from 1% by weight to 8% by weight, of water-soluble organic builders and / or
• 0.01 to 15% by weight of solid inorganic and / or organic acids or acid salts and / or
• 0.01 to 5% by weight complexing agent for heavy metals and / or
• 0.01 to 5% by weight of grayness inhibitor and / or
• 0.01 to 5% by weight of color transfer inhibitor and / or
• - 0.01 to 5 wt .-% foam inhibitor.

Optionally, the means may further comprise optical brighteners. The optical brighteners are preferably used from 0.01 to 5% by weight.

The protease activity in such agents can be determined by the method described in Tenside, Vol. 7 (1970), pp. 125-132. It is accordingly stated in PE (protease units).

When comparing the performance of two detergent enzymes, such as in the examples of the present application, a distinction must be made between the same protein and the same activity. Particularly in the case of genetically engineered, largely side-activity-free preparations, the use of the same protein is appropriate. Because this is a statement on whether the same amounts of protein - as a measure of the yield of fermentative production - lead to comparable results. If the respective ratios of active substance to total protein (the values of the specific activity) diverge, then an activity-equivalent comparison is recommended because this compares the respective enzymatic properties. In general, a low specific activity can be compensated by adding a larger amount of protein. This is ultimately an economic consideration.

A separate subject of the invention is the use of an agent according to the invention described above for the removal of protease-sensitive soiling on textiles or hard surfaces, ie for the cleaning of textiles or hard surfaces.

For agents according to the invention can be used, in particular in accordance with the properties described above, to remove proteinaceous impurities from textiles or from hard surfaces. Embodiments include, for example, hand washing, manual removal of stains from fabrics or hard surfaces, or use in conjunction with a machine process.

In a preferred embodiment of this use, the relevant agents according to the invention, preferably detergents or cleaning agents, are provided according to one of the embodiments set forth above.

A further subject of the invention are processes for the cleaning of textiles or of hard surfaces, in which an agent according to the invention is used at least in one of the process steps. The process for the cleaning of textiles or hard surfaces is accordingly characterized in that an agent according to the invention is used in at least one process step.

This includes both manual and mechanical processes, with mechanical processes being preferred on account of their more precise controllability, for example with regard to the quantities and reaction times used.

Methods for cleaning textiles are generally distinguished by the fact that various cleaning-active substances are applied to the items to be cleaned in a plurality of process steps and washed off after the action time, or that the items to be cleaned are otherwise treated with a detergent or a solution of this agent. The same applies to processes for cleaning all other materials than textiles, which are summarized by the term hard surfaces. All conceivable washing or cleaning methods can be enriched in at least one of the method steps by an agent according to the invention, and then represent embodiments of the present invention.

In a further preferred embodiment of such processes, the relevant enzymes according to the invention are provided in the context of one of the formulations set forth above for agents according to the invention, preferably detergents or cleaners according to the invention.

Since preferred enzymes according to the invention naturally already have a protein-dissolving activity and also unfold them in media which otherwise have no cleaning power, for example in bare buffer, a single substep of such a process for the automated cleaning of textiles may consist in optionally adding, in addition to stabilizing compounds, Salts or buffer substances is applied as the only cleaning-active component of an enzyme according to the invention. This represents a particularly preferred embodiment of the present invention.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the process for the purification of textiles or hard surfaces is therefore characterized in that in at least one process step, a protease according to any one of claims 1 to 11 is proteolytically active. Preferably, the protease is used in an amount of from 40 μg to 4 g, preferably from 50 μg to 3 g, more preferably from 100 μg to 2 g and most preferably from 200 μg to 1 g per application.

Preferred embodiments of this subject matter of the invention are processes for the treatment of textile raw materials or for textile care, in which an alkaline protease according to the invention becomes active in at least one of the process steps.

Among these, methods for textile raw materials, fibers or textiles with natural components are preferred, and especially for those with wool or silk.

These may be, for example, processes in which materials for processing in textiles are prepared, for example for anti-fungal finishing, or, for example, for processes which enrich the cleaning of worn textiles with a nourishing component. Because of the above-described effect of proteases on natural, proteinaceous raw materials are in preferred Embodiments for processes for the treatment of textile raw materials, fibers or textiles with natural constituents, in particular with wool or silk.

According to the above statements, enzymes according to the invention are advantageously usable in agents according to the invention, in particular detergents and cleaners, and processes, in particular washing and cleaning processes. They can be used to remove proteinaceous contaminants from textiles or hard surfaces. Embodiments include, for example, hand washing, manual removal of stains from fabrics or hard surfaces, or use in conjunction with a machine process.

Another object of the invention is therefore the use of a protease according to the invention, as described above for the cleaning of textiles or hard surfaces. Preferably, the protease is used in an amount of from 40 μg to 4 g, preferably from 50 μg to 3 g, more preferably from 100 μg to 2 g and most preferably from 200 μg to 1 g per application.

In a preferred embodiment of this use, the alkaline proteases according to the invention are provided in the context of one of the formulations set forth above for compositions according to the invention, preferably detergents or cleaners.

A further embodiment of this subject of the invention is the use of an alkaline protease according to the invention for activating or deactivating ingredients of detergents or cleaners.

As is known, protein components of detergents or cleaners can be inactivated by the action of a protease. To use this otherwise rather unwanted effect targeted, is an object of the present invention. Likewise, as described above, it is possible that proteolysis activates another component, for example, if it is a hybrid protein of the actual enzyme and the corresponding inhibitor, as described, for example, in the application WO 00/01831 A2 has been disclosed. Another example of such regulation is that in which an active component for protection or control of its activity is encapsulated in a material which is attacked by proteolysis. Proteins of the invention can thus be used for inactivation, activation or release reactions, in particular in multiphase agents.

• – Die Verwendung einer erfindungsgemäßen Alkalischen Protease zur Gewinnung oder Behandlung von Rohmaterialien oder Zwischenprodukten in der Textilherstellung, insbesondere zum Entfernen von Schutzschichten auf Geweben;
• – die Verwendung einer erfindungsgemäßen Alkalischen Protease zur Behandlung von Textilrohstoffen oder zur Textilpflege und hierunter bevorzugt
• – die entsprechende Verwendung für Textilrohstoffe, Fasern oder Textilien mit natürlichen Bestandteilen und ganz besonders für solche mit Wolle oder Seide.

In accordance with the above, the following uses are embodiments of the present invention:

• The use of an alkaline protease according to the invention for the recovery or treatment of raw materials or intermediates in textile production, in particular for the removal of protective layers on fabrics;
• The use of an alkaline protease according to the invention for the treatment of textile raw materials or for textile care and among these are preferred
• - the corresponding use for textile raw materials, fibers or textiles with natural components and especially for those with wool or silk.

The present invention is also realized in the form of such an alkaline protease-containing agent of the present invention, which are cosmetics. This is understood to mean all types of cleansing and conditioning agents for human skin or hair, in particular cleansing agents.

Because proteases also play a crucial role in the cell renewal process of the human skin (desquamation) (T. Egelrud et al., Acta Derm. Venerol., Vol. 71 (1991), pp. 471-474). Accordingly, proteases are also used as bioactive components in skin care agents to aid in the breakdown of desmosome structures that are increased in dry skin. The use of subtilisin proteases with amino acid substitutions in the positions R99G / A / S, S154D / E and / or L211 D / E for cosmetic purposes is described, for example, in US Pat WO 97/07770 A1 described. As explained in detail above, proteases according to the invention can be further developed via the corresponding point mutations. Thus, proteases according to the invention, in particular those which are controlled in their activity, for example after mutagenesis or by addition of corresponding substances interacting with them, are also suitable as active components in skin or hair cleansing or care preparations. Particular preference is given to those preparations of these enzymes which, as described above, for example by coupling to macromolecular carriers (cf. US 5230891 A ) are stabilized and / or derivatized by point mutations at highly allergenic positions, so that they have a higher skin compatibility for humans.

Accordingly, corresponding cosmetic cleaning and care methods and the use of such proteolytic enzymes for cosmetic purposes are also included in this subject matter, in particular in appropriate agents, such as shampoos, soaps or washing lotions, or in care products that are offered, for example in the form of creams. Also, the use in a peeling drug, or for its production is included in this claim.

• – die Verwendung einer erfindungsgemäßen Alkalischen Proteasen zur biochemischen Analyse oder zur Synthese von niedermolekularen Verbindungen oder von Proteinen;
• – darunter bevorzugt die Verwendung zur Endgruppenbestimmung im Rahmen einer Peptid-Sequenzanalyse;
• – die Verwendung einer erfindungsgemäßen Alkalischen Proteasen zur Präparation, Reinigung oder Synthese von Naturstoffen oder biologischen Wertstoffen, vorzugsweise im Rahmen entsprechender Mittel oder Verfahren;
• – die Verwendung einer erfindungsgemäßen Alkalischen Proteasen zur Synthese von Proteinen oder anderen niedermolekularen chemischen Verbindungen;
• – die Verwendung einer erfindungsgemäßen Alkalischen Proteasen zur Behandlung von natürlichen Rohstoffen, insbesondere zur Oberflächenbehandlung, ganz besonders in einem Verfahren zur Behandlung von Leder, vorzugsweise im Rahmen entsprechender Mittel oder Verfahren;
• – die Verwendung einer erfindungsgemäßen Alkalischen Proteasen zur Behandlung von photographischen Filmen, insbesondere zur Entfernung von gelatinhaltigen oder ähnlichen Schutzschichten; und
• – die Verwendung einer erfindungsgemäßen Alkalischen Proteasen zur Herstellung von Lebensmitteln oder von Futtermitteln.

In addition to the use in detergents and cleaners and cosmetics numerous applications of proteases, in particular subtilases are established in the prior art. An overview of this is provided, for example, by the handbook "Industrial Enzymes and their Applications" by H. Uhlig, Wiley-Verlag, New York, 1998. All of these techniques can be supplemented by alkaline proteases according to the invention. Should it turn out that they can be further developed by the use of proteases according to the invention, they are included in the scope of protection of the present invention. These include in particular the following fields of application:

• The use of an alkaline protease according to the invention for the biochemical analysis or for the synthesis of low molecular weight compounds or of proteins;
• - including preferred use for end-group determination in a peptide sequence analysis;
• The use of an alkaline protease according to the invention for the preparation, purification or synthesis of natural substances or biological valuable substances, preferably in the context of appropriate agents or processes;
• The use of an alkaline protease according to the invention for the synthesis of proteins or other low-molecular-weight chemical compounds;
• The use of an alkaline protease according to the invention for the treatment of natural raw materials, in particular for surface treatment, more particularly in a process for the treatment of leather, preferably in the context of appropriate agents or processes;
• The use of an alkaline protease according to the invention for the treatment of photographic films, in particular for the removal of gelatin-containing or similar protective layers; and
• The use of an alkaline protease according to the invention for the production of food or feed.

In principle, the use of alkaline proteases according to the invention in all other fields of technology is included in the scope of protection of the present application, for which it has proven to be suitable.

The agents according to the invention or the agents prepared by the process according to the invention described above optionally contain further ingredients such as further enzymes, enzyme stabilizers, surfactants, e.g. As nonionic, anionic and / or amphoteric surfactants, and / or bleaching agents, and / or builder, and optionally other conventional ingredients, which are carried out in the following.

builders

The builders include, in particular, the zeolites, silicates, carbonates, organic cobuilders and, where there are no ecological prejudices against their use, also the phosphates.

The finely crystalline, synthetic and bound water-containing zeolite used is preferably zeolite A and / or P. As zeolite P, zeolite ^MAP® (commercial product from Crosfield) is particularly preferred. Also suitable, however, are zeolite X and mixtures of A, X and / or P. Commercially available and preferably usable in the context of the present invention is, for example, a cocrystal of zeolite X and zeolite A (about 80% by weight of zeolite X) ), by the formula nNa ₂ O • (1-n) K ₂ O • Al ₂ O ₃ • (2-2.5) SiO ₂ • (3.5-5.5) H ₂ O can be described. The zeolite can be used both as a builder in a granular compound, as well as a kind of "powdering" of a granular mixture, preferably a mixture to be pressed, usually both ways for incorporating the zeolite in the Pre-mix can be used. Suitable zeolites have an average particle size of less than 10 microns (volume distribution, measuring method: Counter Counter) and preferably contain 18 to 22 wt .-%, in particular 20 to 22 wt .-% of bound water.

Preference is given to using crystalline layer-form silicates of the general formula NaMSi _x O _{2x + 1} .yH ₂ O, in which M represents sodium or hydrogen, x a number from 1.9 to 22, preferably from 1.9 to 4, particularly preferred values x is 2, 3 or 4, and y is a number from 0 to 33, preferably from 0 to 20. The crystalline layer-form silicates of the formula NaMSi _x O _{2x + 1} .yH ₂ O are for example sold by Clariant GmbH (Germany) under the trade name Na-SKS. Examples of these silicates are Na-SKS-1 (Na ₂ Si ₂₂ O ₄₅ .xH ₂ O, Kenyaite), Na-SKS-2 (Na ₂ Si ₁₄ O ₂₉ .xH ₂ O, magadiite), Na-SKS-3 (Na ₂ Si ₈ O ₁₇ .xH ₂ O) or Na-SKS-4 (Na ₂ Si ₄ O ₉ .xH ₂ O, Makatite).

Particularly suitable for the purposes of the present invention are crystalline phyllosilicates of the formula NaMSixO _{2x + 1} .yH ₂ O, in which x is 2. In particular, both β- and δ-sodium disilicates are Na ₂ Si ₂ O ₅ .yH ₂ O and furthermore especially Na-SKS-5 (α-Na ₂ Si ₂ O ₅ ), Na-SKS-7 (β-Na ₂ Si ₂ O _5, natrosilite), Na-SKS-9 (NaHSi ₂ O ₅ · H ₂ O), Na-SKS-10 (NaHSi ₂ O ₅ · 3H ₂ O, kanemite), Na-SKS-11 (t- Na ₂ Si ₂ O ₅ ) and Na-SKS-13 (NaHSi ₂ O ₅ ), but especially Na-SKS-6 (6-Na ₂ Si ₂ O ₅ ).

Detergents or cleaning agents preferably contain a weight fraction of the crystalline layered silicate of the formula NaMSi _x O _{2x + 1} · yH ₂ O of from 0.1 to 20% by weight, preferably from 0.2 to 15% by weight and in particular of 0 , 4 to 10 wt .-%, each based on the total weight of these agents.

It is also possible to use amorphous sodium silicates with a Na ₂ O: SiO ₂ modulus of from 1: 2 to 1: 3.3, preferably from 1: 2 to 1: 2.8 and in particular from 1: 2 to 1: 2.6, which preferably delayed release and have secondary washing properties. The dissolution delay compared with conventional amorphous sodium silicates may have been caused in various ways, for example by surface treatment, compounding, compaction / densification or by overdrying. In the context of this invention, the term "amorphous" is understood to mean that the silicates do not yield sharp X-ray reflections typical of crystalline substances in X-ray diffraction experiments, but at most one or more maxima of the scattered X-rays having a width of several degrees of diffraction angle , cause.

Alternatively or in combination with the abovementioned amorphous sodium silicates, X-ray-amorphous silicates are used whose silicate particles give washed-out or even sharp diffraction maxima in electron diffraction experiments. This is to be interpreted as meaning that the products have microcrystalline regions of the size of ten to a few hundred nm, with values of up to max. 50 nm and in particular up to max. 20 nm are preferred. Such X-ray amorphous silicates also have a dissolution delay compared to conventional water glasses. Particularly preferred are compacted / compacted amorphous silicates, compounded amorphous silicates and overdried X-ray amorphous silicates.

In the context of the present invention, it is preferred that these silicate (s), preferably alkali metal silicates, particularly preferably crystalline or amorphous alkali metal disilicates, be present in detergents or cleaners in amounts of from 3 to 60% by weight, preferably from 8 to 50 Wt .-% and in particular from 20 to 40 wt .-%, each based on the weight of the washing or cleaning agent, are included.

Of course, a use of the well-known phosphates as builders is possible, unless such use should not be avoided for environmental reasons. Among the large number of commercially available phosphates, the alkali metal phosphates, with a particular preference for pentasodium or pentapotassium triphosphate (sodium or potassium tripolyphosphate), have the greatest importance in the washing and cleaning agent industry.

Alkali metal phosphates is the summary term for the alkali metal (especially sodium and potassium) salts of various phosphoric acids, in which one can distinguish metaphosphoric acids (HPO ₃ ) _n and orthophosphoric H ₃ PO _{4 in} addition to higher molecular weight representatives. The phosphates combine several advantages: they act as alkali carriers, prevent lime deposits on machine parts or lime incrustations in fabrics and also contribute to the cleaning performance.

Technically particularly important phosphates are the pentasodium triphosphate, Na ₅ P ₃ O ₁₀ (sodium tripolyphosphate) and the corresponding potassium salt pentapotassium triphosphate, K ₅ P ₃ O ₁₀ (potassium tripolyphosphate). The sodium potassium tripolyphosphates are also preferably used according to the invention.

If phosphates are used as detergents or cleaning agents in the context of the present application, preferred agents comprise these phosphate (s), preferably alkali metal phosphate (s), more preferably pentasodium or pentapotassium triphosphate (sodium or pentasodium) Potassium tripolyphosphate), in amounts of from 5 to 80% by weight, preferably from 15 to 75% by weight, in particular from 20 to 70% by weight, based in each case on the weight of the washing or cleaning agent.

Further builders are the alkali carriers. Suitable alkali carriers are, for example, alkali metal hydroxides, alkali metal carbonates, alkali metal hydrogencarbonates, alkali metal sesquicarbonates, the alkali silicates, alkali metal silicates and mixtures of the abovementioned substances, preference being given to using alkali metal carbonates, in particular sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate or sodium sesquicarbonate for the purposes of this invention. Particularly preferred is a builder system comprising a mixture of tripolyphosphate and sodium carbonate. Because of their low chemical compatibility with the other ingredients of detergents or cleaners compared with other builders, the alkali metal hydroxides are preferably only in small amounts, preferably in amounts below 10 wt .-%, preferably below 6 wt .-%, more preferably below 4 wt .-% and in particular below 2 wt .-%, each based on the total weight of the detergent or cleaning agent used. Particularly preferred are agents which, based on their total weight, contain less than 0.5% by weight and in particular no alkali metal hydroxides.

Particularly preferred is the use of carbonate (s) and / or bicarbonate (s), preferably alkali metal carbonate (s), more preferably sodium carbonate, in amounts of 2 to 50 wt .-%, preferably from 5 to 40 wt .-% and in particular from 7.5 to 30 wt .-%, each based on the weight of the washing or cleaning agent. Particularly preferred are agents which, based on the weight of the washing or cleaning agent less than 20 wt .-%, preferably less than 17 wt .-%, preferably less than 13 wt .-% and in particular less than 9 wt .-% carbonate (e) and / or bicarbonate (s), preferably alkali metal carbonate (s), particularly preferably sodium carbonate.

Particularly suitable organic co-builders are polycarboxylates / polycarboxylic acids, polymeric polycarboxylates, aspartic acid, polyacetals, dextrins, other organic cobuilders (see below) and phosphonates. These classes of substances are described below.

Useful organic builders are, for example, the polycarboxylic acids which can be used in the form of the free acid and / or their sodium salts, polycarboxylic acids meaning those carboxylic acids which carry more than one acid function. These are, for example, citric acid, adipic acid, succinic acid, glutaric acid, malic acid, tartaric acid, maleic acid, fumaric acid, sugar acids, aminocarboxylic acids, nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA), if such use is not objectionable for ecological reasons, and mixtures of these. In addition to their builder effect, the free acids also typically have the property of an acidifying component and thus also serve to set a lower and milder pH of detergents or cleaners. In particular, citric acid, succinic acid, glutaric acid, adipic acid, gluconic acid and any desired mixtures of these can be mentioned here.

Further suitable builders are polymeric polycarboxylates, for example the alkali metal salts of polyacrylic acid or of polymethacrylic acid, for example those having a relative molecular mass of from 500 to 70,000 g / mol.

For the purposes of this document, the molecular weights stated for polymeric polycarboxylates are weight-average molar masses M _{w of} the particular acid form, which were determined in principle by means of gel permeation chromatography (GPC), a UV detector being used. The measurement was carried out against an external polyacrylic acid standard, which provides realistic molecular weight values due to its structural relationship with the polymers investigated. These data differ significantly from the molecular weight data, in which polystyrene sulfonic acids are used as standard. The molar masses measured against polystyrenesulfonic acids are generally significantly higher than the molecular weights specified in this document.

Suitable polymers are, in particular, polyacrylates which preferably have a molecular weight of 2,000 to 20,000 g / mol. Because of their superior solubility, the short-chain polyacrylates, which have molar masses of from 2000 to 10000 g / mol, and particularly preferably from 3000 to 5000 g / mol, may again be preferred from this group.

Also suitable are copolymeric polycarboxylates, in particular those of acrylic acid with methacrylic acid and of acrylic acid or methacrylic acid with maleic acid. Copolymers of acrylic acid with maleic acid which contain 50 to 90% by weight of acrylic acid and 50 to 10% by weight of maleic acid have proven to be particularly suitable. Their relative molecular weight, based on free acids, is generally from 2000 to 70000 g / mol, preferably from 20,000 to 50,000 g / mol and in particular from 30,000 to 40,000 g / mol.

The (co) polymeric polycarboxylates can be used either as a powder or as an aqueous solution. The content of detergents or cleaners to (co) polymeric polycarboxylates is preferably 0.5 to 20 wt .-%, in particular 3 to 10 wt .-%.

To improve the water solubility, the polymers may also contain allylsulfonic acids such as allyloxybenzenesulfonic acid and methallylsulfonic acid as a monomer.

Also particularly preferred are biodegradable polymers of more than two different monomer units, for example those which contain as monomers salts of acrylic acid and maleic acid and vinyl alcohol or vinyl alcohol derivatives or as monomers salts of acrylic acid and 2-alkylallylsulfonic acid and sugar derivatives ,

Further preferred copolymers are those which have as their monomers acrolein and acrylic acid / acrylic acid salts or acrolein and vinyl acetate.

Also to be mentioned as further preferred builders polymeric aminodicarboxylic acids, their salts or their precursors. Particular preference is given to polyaspartic acids or their salts.

Further suitable builder substances are polyacetals which can be obtained by reacting dialdehydes with polyolcarboxylic acids which have 5 to 7 C atoms and at least 3 hydroxyl groups. Preferred polyacetals are obtained from dialdehydes such as glyoxal, glutaraldehyde, terephthalaldehyde and mixtures thereof and from polyol carboxylic acids such as gluconic acid and / or glucoheptonic acid.

Further suitable organic builder substances are dextrins, for example oligomers or polymers of carbohydrates, which can be obtained by partial hydrolysis of starches. The hydrolysis can be carried out by customary, for example acid or enzyme catalyzed processes. Preferably, it is hydrolysis products having average molecular weights in the range of 400 to 500,000 g / mol. In this case, a polysaccharide with a dextrose equivalent (DE) in the range from 0.5 to 40, in particular from 2 to 30 is preferred, DE being a common measure of the reducing action of a polysaccharide compared to dextrose, which has a DE of 100 , is. Usable are both maltodextrins with a DE between 3 and 20 and dry glucose syrups with a DE between 20 and 37 and so-called yellow dextrins and white dextrins with higher molecular weights in the range from 2000 to 30,000 g / mol.

The oxidized derivatives of such dextrins are their reaction products with oxidizing agents which are capable of oxidizing at least one alcohol function of the saccharide ring to the carboxylic acid function.

Oxydisuccinates and other derivatives of disuccinates, preferably ethylenediamine disuccinate, are other suitable co-builders. In this case, ethylenediamine-N, N'-disuccinate (EDDS) is preferably used in the form of its sodium or magnesium salts. Also preferred in this context are glycerol disuccinates and glycerol trisuccinates. Suitable amounts are in zeolithhaltigen and / or silicate-containing formulations at 3 to 15 wt .-%.

Other useful organic cobuilders are, for example, acetylated hydroxycarboxylic acids or their salts, which may optionally also be present in lactone form and which contain at least 4 carbon atoms and at least one hydroxyl group and a maximum of two acid groups.

In addition, all compounds capable of forming complexes with alkaline earth ions can be used as builders.

The group of surfactants includes nonionic, anionic, cationic and amphoteric surfactants.

As nonionic surfactants, it is possible to use all nonionic surfactants known to the person skilled in the art. Suitable nonionic surfactants are, for example, alkyl glycosides of the general formula RO (G) _x in which R corresponds to a primary straight-chain or methyl-branched, especially methyl-branched, 2-position aliphatic radical having 8 to 22, preferably 12 to 18, carbon atoms and G is the symbol which is a glycose unit having 5 or 6 C atoms, preferably glucose. The degree of oligomerization x, which indicates the distribution of monoglycosides and oligoglycosides, is any number between 1 and 10; preferably x is 1.2 to 1.4.

Another class of preferred nonionic surfactants used either as the sole nonionic surfactant or in combination with other nonionic surfactants are alkoxylated, preferably ethoxylated or ethoxylated and propoxylated fatty acid alkyl esters, preferably having from 1 to 4 carbon atoms in the alkyl chain.

Nonionic surfactants of the amine oxide type, for example N-cocoalkyl-N, N-dimethylamine oxide and N-tallowalkyl-N, N-dihydroxyethylamine oxide, and the fatty acid alkanolamides may also be suitable. The amount of these nonionic surfactants is preferably not more than that of the ethoxylated fatty alcohols, especially not more than half thereof.

in der R für einen aliphatischen Acylrest mit 6 bis 22 Kohlenstoffatomen, R¹ für Wasserstoff, einen Alkyl- oder Hydroxyalkylrest mit 1 bis 4 Kohlenstoffatomen und [Z] für einen linearen oder verzweigten Polyhydroxyalkylrest mit 3 bis 10 Kohlenstoffatomen und 3 bis 10 Hydroxylgruppen steht. Bei den Polyhydroxyfettsäureamiden handelt es sich um bekannte Stoffe, die üblicherweise durch reduktive Aminierung eines reduzierenden Zuckers mit Ammoniak, einem Alkylamin oder einem Alkanolamin und nachfolgende Acylierung mit einer Fettsäure, einem Fettsäurealkylester oder einem Fettsäurechlorid erhalten werden können.Further suitable surfactants are polyhydroxy fatty acid amides of the formula

wherein R is an aliphatic acyl radical having 6 to 22 carbon atoms, R ^{1 is} hydrogen, an alkyl or hydroxyalkyl radical having 1 to 4 carbon atoms and [Z] is a linear or branched polyhydroxyalkyl radical having 3 to 10 carbon atoms and 3 to 10 hydroxyl groups. The polyhydroxy fatty acid amides are known substances which can usually be obtained by reductive amination of a reducing sugar with ammonia, an alkylamine or an alkanolamine and subsequent acylation with a fatty acid, a fatty acid alkyl ester or a fatty acid chloride.

in der R für einen linearen oder verzweigten Alkyl- oder Alkenylrest mit 7 bis 12 Kohlenstoffatomen, R¹ für einen linearen, verzweigten oder zyklischen Alkylrest oder einen Arylrest mit 2 bis 8 Kohlenstoffatomen und R² für einen linearen, verzweigten oder zyklischen Alkylrest oder einen Arylrest oder einen Oxy-Alkylrest mit 1 bis 8 Kohlenstoffatomen steht, wobei C_1-4-Alkyl- oder Phenylreste bevorzugt sind und [Z] für einen linearen Polyhydroxyalkylrest steht, dessen Alkylkette mit mindestens zwei Hydroxylgruppen substituiert ist, oder alkoxylierte, vorzugsweise ethoxylierte oder propxylierte Derivate dieses Restes.The group of polyhydroxy fatty acid amides also includes compounds of the formula

R is a linear or branched alkyl or alkenyl radical having 7 to 12 carbon atoms, R ^{1 is} a linear, branched or cyclic alkyl radical or an aryl radical having 2 to 8 carbon atoms and R ^{2 is} a linear, branched or cyclic alkyl radical or an aryl radical or an oxyalkyl radical having 1 to 8 carbon atoms, with C _1-4 alkyl or phenyl radicals being preferred and [Z] being a linear polyhydroxyalkyl radical whose alkyl chain is substituted by at least two hydroxyl groups, or alkoxylated, preferably ethoxylated or propoxylated Derivatives of this residue.

[Z] is preferably obtained by reductive amination of a reduced sugar, for example glucose, fructose, maltose, lactose, galactose, mannose or xylose. The N-alkoxy- or N-aryloxy-substituted compounds can be converted into the desired polyhydroxy fatty acid amides by reaction with fatty acid methyl esters in the presence of an alkoxide as catalyst.

Low-foaming nonionic surfactants are used as preferred surfactants. With particular preference, washing or cleaning agents, in particular automatic dishwashing detergents, contain nonionic surfactants from the group of the alkoxylated alcohols. The nonionic surfactants used are preferably alkoxylated, advantageously ethoxylated, in particular primary, alcohols having preferably 8 to 18 carbon atoms and on average 1 to 12 moles of ethylene oxide (EO) per mole of alcohol, in which the alcohol radical can be linear or preferably methyl-branched in the 2-position or linear and methyl-branched radicals in the mixture can contain, as they are usually present in Oxoalkoholresten. In particular, however, alcohol ethoxylates with linear radicals of alcohols of native origin having 12 to 18 carbon atoms, for. From coconut, palm, tallow or oleyl alcohol, and on average from 2 to 8 moles of EO per mole of alcohol. The preferred ethoxylated alcohols include, for example, C _12-14 alcohols with 3 EO or 4 EO, C _9-11 alcohols with 7 EO, C _13-15 alcohols with 3 EO, 5 EO, 7 EO or 8 EO, C _12-18 alcohols with 3 EO, 5 EO or 7 EO and mixtures of these, such as mixtures of C _12-14 -alcohol with 3 EO and C _12-18 Alcohol with 5 EO. The stated degrees of ethoxylation represent statistical averages, which may correspond to a particular product of an integer or a fractional number. Preferred alcohol ethoxylates have a narrow homolog distribution (narrow range ethoxylates, NRE). In addition to these nonionic surfactants, fatty alcohols with more than 12 EO can also be used. Examples include tallow fatty alcohol with 14 EO, 25 EO, 30 EO or 40 EO.

Particular preference is therefore given to ethoxylated nonionic surfactants consisting of C _6-20 monohydroxyalkanols or C _6-20 alkylphenols or C _16-20 fatty alcohols and more than 12 mol, preferably more than 15 mol and in particular more than 20 mol of ethylene oxide per mol Alcohol was used. A particularly preferred nonionic surfactant is obtained from a straight-chain fatty alcohol having 16 to 20 carbon atoms (C _16-20 alcohol), preferably a C ₁₈ -alcohol and at least 12 mol, preferably at least 15 mol and especially at least 20 mol of ethylene oxide. Of these, the so-called "narrow range ethoxylates" are particularly preferred.

With particular preference further combinations of one or more tallow fatty alcohols with 20 to 30 EO and silicone defoamers are used.

Particular preference is given to nonionic surfactants which have a melting point above room temperature. Nonionic surfactant (s) having a melting point above 20 ° C, preferably above 25 ° C, more preferably between 25 and 60 ° C and especially between 26.6 and 43.3 ° C, is / are particularly preferred ,

Suitable nonionic surfactants which have melting or softening points in the temperature range mentioned are, for example, low-foaming nonionic surfactants which may be solid or highly viscous at room temperature. If nonionic surfactants are used which are highly viscous at room temperature, it is preferred that they have a viscosity above 20 Pa · s, preferably above 35 Pa · s and in particular above 40 Pa · s. Also, nonionic surfactants having waxy consistency at room temperature are preferred depending on their purpose.

Nonionic surfactants from the group of alkoxylated alcohols, more preferably from the group of mixed alkoxylated alcohols and in particular from the group of EO-AO-EO-Niotenside, are also used with particular preference.

The nonionic surfactant solid at room temperature preferably has propylene oxide units in the molecule. Preferably, such PO units make up to 25 wt .-%, more preferably up to 20 wt .-% and in particular up to 15 wt .-% of the total molecular weight of the nonionic surfactant from. Particularly preferred nonionic surfactants are ethoxylated monohydroxyalkanols or alkylphenols which additionally have polyoxyethylene-polyoxypropylene block copolymer units. The alcohol or alkylphenol content of such nonionic surfactant molecules preferably makes up more than 30% by weight, more preferably more than 50% by weight and in particular more than 70% by weight, of the total molecular weight of such nonionic surfactants. Preferred agents are characterized in that they contain ethoxylated and propoxylated nonionic surfactants in which the propylene oxide units in the molecule up to 25 wt .-%, preferably up to 20 wt .-% and in particular up to 15 wt .-% of the total molecular weight of the nonionic Make up surfactants.

Preferably used surfactants come from the groups of alkoxylated nonionic surfactants, in particular the ethoxylated primary alcohols and mixtures of these surfactants with structurally complicated surfactants such as polyoxypropylene / polyoxyethylene / polyoxypropylene ((PO / EO / PO) surfactants). Such (PO / EO / PO) nonionic surfactants are also characterized by good foam control.

More particularly preferred nonionic surfactants having melting points above room temperature contain from 40 to 70% of a polyoxypropylene / polyoxyethylene / polyoxypropylene block polymer blend containing 75% by weight of a reverse block copolymer of polyoxyethylene and polyoxypropylene with 17 moles of ethylene oxide and 44 moles of propylene oxide and 25% by weight. % of a block copolymer of polyoxyethylene and polyoxypropylene initiated with trimethylolpropane and containing 24 moles of ethylene oxide and 99 moles of propylene oxide per mole of trimethylolpropane.

bevorzugt, in der R¹ für einen geradkettigen oder verzweigten, gesättigten oder ein- bzw. mehrfach ungesättigten C_6-24-Alkyl- oder -Alkenylrest steht; jede Gruppe R² bzw. R³ unabhängig voneinander ausgewählt ist aus -CH₃, -CH₂CH₃, -CH₂CH₂-CH₃, CH(CH₃)₂ und die Indizes w, x, y, z unabhängig voneinander für ganze Zahlen von 1 bis 6 stehen.In the context of the present invention, particularly preferred nonionic surfactants have been low foaming nonionic surfactants which have alternating ethylene oxide and alkylene oxide units. Among these, surfactants with EO-AO-EO-AO blocks are again preferred, with one to ten EO-AO blocks in each case. or AO groups are bound together before one block follows from the other groups. Here are nichionic surfactants of the general formula

in which R ^{1 is} a straight-chain or branched, saturated or mono- or polyunsaturated C _6-24 alkyl or alkenyl radical; each group R ² or R ^{3 is} independently selected from -CH ₃ , -CH ₂ CH ₃ , -CH ₂ CH ₂ -CH ₃ , CH (CH ₃ ) ₂ and the indices w, x, y, z independently stand for integers from 1 to 6.

The preferred nonionic surfactants of the above formula can be prepared by known methods from the corresponding alcohols R ¹ -OH and ethylene or alkylene oxide. The radical R ¹ in the above formula may vary depending on the origin of the alcohol. When native sources are used, the radical R ^{1 has} an even number of carbon atoms and is usually unbranched, the linear radicals being selected from alcohols of native origin having 12 to 18 C atoms, eg. B. from coconut, palm, tallow or oleyl alcohol, are preferred. Alcohols which are accessible from synthetic sources are, for example, the Guerbet alcohols or methyl-branched or linear and methyl-branched radicals in the 2-position, as they are usually present in oxo alcohol radicals. Irrespective of the type of alcohol used to prepare the nonionic surfactants contained in the compositions, preference is given to nonionic surfactants in which R ¹ in the above formula is an alkyl radical having 6 to 24, preferably 8 to 20, particularly preferably 9 to 15 and in particular 9 to 11 Carbon atoms.

As the alkylene oxide unit which is contained in the preferred nonionic surfactants in alternation with the ethylene oxide unit, in particular butylene oxide is considered in addition to propylene oxide. But also other alkylene oxides in which R ² or R ^{3 are} independently selected from -CH ₂ CH ₂ -CH ₃ or CH (CH ₃ ) ₂ are suitable. Preference is given to using nonionic surfactants of the above formula in which R ² or R ^{3 is} a radical -CH ₃ , w and x independently of one another for values of 3 or 4 and y and z independently of one another are values of 1 or 2.

In summary, particularly preferred are nonionic surfactants having a C _9-15 alkyl group having 1 to 4 ethylene oxide units followed by 1 to 4 propylene oxide units followed by 1 to 4 ethylene oxide units followed by 1 to 4 propylene oxide units. These surfactants have the required low viscosity in aqueous solution and can be used according to the invention with particular preference.

Surfactants of the general formula R ^{1 is} -CH (OH) OH ₂ O- (AO) _w - (A'O) _x - (A''O) _y - (A''O) _z -R ₂ , in which R ¹ and R ² independently of one another represent a straight-chain or branched, saturated or mono- or polyunsaturated C _2-40 -alkyl or -alkenyl radical; A, A ', A''andA''' are independently a radical from the group -CH ₂ CH ₂ , CH ₂ CH ₂ -CH ₂ , -CH ₂ -CH (CH ₃ ), -CH ₂ -CH _{2 is} -CH ₂ -CH ₂ , -CH ₂ -CH (CH ₃ ) -CH ₂ -, -CH ₂ -CH (CH ₂ -CH ₃ ); and w, x, y and z are values between 0.5 and 90, where x, y and / or z can also be 0 are preferred according to the invention.

Preference is given in particular to those end-capped poly (oxyalkylated) nonionic surfactants which are of the formula R ¹ O [CH ₂ CH ₂ O] _x CH ₂ CH (OH) R ² in addition to a radical R ¹ , which is linear or branched, saturated or unsaturated, aliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbon radicals having 2 to 30 carbon atoms, preferably having 4 to 22 carbon atoms, further having a linear or branched, saturated or unsaturated, aliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbon radical R2 Have from 1 to 30 carbon atoms, wherein x stands for values between 1 and 90, preferably for values between 40 and 80 and in particular for values between 40 and 60.

Particularly preferred are surfactants of the formula R ¹ O [CH ₂ CH (OH ₃ ) O] _x [CH ₂ CH ₂ O] _y CH ₂ CH (OH) R ² , in which R ^{1 is} a linear or branched aliphatic hydrocarbon radical having 4 to 18 carbon atoms or mixtures thereof, R ² denotes a linear or branched hydrocarbon radical having 2 to 26 carbon atoms or mixtures thereof and x for values between 0.5 and 1.5 and y is a value of at least 15.

Particular preference is furthermore given to those end-capped poly (oxyalkylated) nonionic surfactants of the formula R ¹ O [CH ₂ CH ₂ O] _x [CH ₂ CH (R ³ ) O] _y CH ₂ CH (OH) R ² , in which R ¹ and R ² independently of one another are a linear or branched, saturated or mono- or polyunsaturated hydrocarbon radical having 2 to 26 carbon atoms, R ^{3 is} independently selected from -CH ₃ , -CH ₂ CH ₃ , -CH ₂ CH ₂ -CH ₃ , CH (CH ₃ ) ₂ , but preferably represents -CH ₃ , and x and y independently of one another are values between 1 and 32, wherein nonionic surfactants with R ³ = -CH ₃ and values for x of 15 to 32 and y of 0.5 and 1.5 are very particularly preferred.

Other preferred nonionic surfactants are the end-capped poly (oxyalkylated) nonionic surfactants of the formula R ¹ O [CH ₂ CH (R ³ ) O] _x [CH ₂ ] _k CH (OH) [CH ₂ ] _j OR ² , in which R ¹ and R ^{2 are} linear or branched, saturated or unsaturated, aliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbon radicals having 1 to 30 carbon atoms, R ^{3 is} H or a methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, iso-propyl, n- Butyl, 2-butyl or 2-methyl-2-butyl radical, x are values between 1 and 30, k and j are values between 1 and 12, preferably between 1 and 5. When the value x ≥ 2, each R ³ in the above formula R ¹ O [CH ₂ CH (R ³ ) O] _x [CH ₂ ] _k CH (OH) [CH ₂ ] _j OR ^{2 may be} different. R ¹ and R ² are preferably linear or branched, saturated or unsaturated, aliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbon radicals having 6 to 22 carbon atoms, with radicals having 8 to 18 carbon atoms being particularly preferred. For the radical R ³ , H, -CH ₃ or -CH ₂ CH _{3 are} particularly preferred. Particularly preferred values for x are in the range from 1 to 20, in particular from 6 to 15.

As described above, each R ³ in the above formula may be different if x ≥ 2. As a result, the alkylene oxide unit in the square bracket can be varied. Is for example, x 3, the radical R may be selected ³ to form ethylene oxide (R ³ = H) or propylene oxide (R ³ = CH ₃₎ units which can be joined together in any order, for example, (EO) ( PO) (EO), (EO) (EO) (PO), (EO) (EO) (EO), (PO) (EO) (PO), (PO) (PO) (EO) and (PO) ( PO) (PO). The value 3 for x has been selected here by way of example and may well be greater, with the variation width increasing with increasing x values and including, for example, a large number (EO) groups combined with a small number (PO) groups, or vice versa ,

Particularly preferred end-capped poly (oxyalkylated) alcohols of the above formula have values of k = 1 and j = 1, so that the above formula zu R ¹ O [CH ₂ CH (R ³ ) O] _x CH ₂ CH (OH) CH ₂ OR ² simplified. In the latter formula, R ¹ , R ² and R ^{3 are} as defined above and x is from 1 to 30, preferably from 1 to 20 and in particular from 6 to 18. Particularly preferred are surfactants in which the radicals R ¹ and R ^{2 has} 9 to 14 C atoms, R ^{3 is} H and x assumes values of 6 to 15.

The stated C chain lengths and degrees of ethoxylation or degrees of alkoxylation of the abovementioned nonionic surfactants represent statistical mean values which, for a specific product, may be an integer or a fractional number. Due to the manufacturing process, commercial products of the formulas mentioned are usually not made of an individual representative, but of mixtures, which may result in mean values for the C chain lengths as well as for the degrees of ethoxylation or degrees of alkoxylation and subsequently broken numbers.

Of course, the aforementioned nonionic surfactants can be used not only as individual substances, but also as surfactant mixtures of two, three, four or more surfactants. Surfactant mixtures are not mixtures of nonionic surfactants which in their entirety fall under one of the abovementioned general formulas, but rather those mixtures which are two, three, four or more nonionic surfactants, which may be described by different of the aforementioned general formulas.

As anionic surfactants, for example, those of the sulfonate type and sulfates are used. The surfactants of the sulfonate type are preferably C _9-13 -alkylbenzenesulfonates, olefinsulfonates, ie mixtures of alkene and hydroxyalkanesulfonates and disulfonates, as are obtained, for example, from C _12-18 -monoolefins having terminal or internal double bonds by sulfonation with gaseous sulfur trioxide and subsequent alkaline or acid hydrolysis of the sulfonation products into consideration. Also suitable are alkanesulfonates which are obtained from C _12-18 alkanes, for example by sulfochlorination or sulfoxidation with subsequent hydrolysis or neutralization. Likewise, the esters of α-sulfo fatty acids (ester sulfonates), z. As the α-sulfonated methyl esters of hydrogenated coconut, palm kernel or tallow fatty acids suitable.

Further suitable anionic surfactants are sulfated fatty acid glycerol esters. Fatty acid glycerol esters are to be understood as meaning the mono-, di- and triesters and mixtures thereof, as obtained in the preparation by esterification of a monoglycerol with 1 to 3 moles of fatty acid or in the transesterification of triglycerides with 0.3 to 2 moles of glycerol. Preferred sulfated fatty acid glycerol esters are the sulfonation products of saturated fatty acids having 6 to 22 carbon atoms, for example caproic acid, caprylic acid, capric acid, myristic acid, lauric acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid or behenic acid.

Alk (en) ylsulfates are the alkali metal salts and in particular the sodium salts of the sulfuric monoesters of C ₁₂ -C ₁₈ fatty alcohols, for example coconut fatty alcohol, tallow fatty alcohol, lauryl, myristyl, cetyl or stearyl alcohol or the C ₁₀ -C ₂₀ oxo alcohols and those half-esters of secondary alcohols of these chain lengths are preferred. Also preferred are alk (en) ylsulfates of said chain length, which contain a synthetic, produced on a petrochemical basis straight-chain alkyl radical, which have an analogous degradation behavior as the adequate compounds based on oleochemical raw materials. Of washing technology interest, the C ₁₂ -C ₁₆ alkyl sulfates and C ₁₂ -C ₁₅ alkyl sulfates and C ₁₄ -C ₁₅ alkyl sulfates are preferred. Also 2,3-alkyl sulfates, which can be obtained as commercial products of Shell Oil Company under the name DAN ^® , are suitable anionic surfactants.

The sulfuric acid monoesters of straight-chain or branched C _7-21 -alcohols ethoxylated with from 1 to 6 mol of ethylene oxide, such as 2-methyl-branched C _9-11- alcohols having on average 3.5 mol of ethylene oxide (EO) or C _12-18 . Fatty alcohols with 1 to 4 EO are suitable. Due to their high foaming behavior, they are only used in detergents in relatively small amounts, for example in amounts of from 1 to 5% by weight.

Further suitable anionic surfactants are also the salts of alkylsulfosuccinic acid, which are also referred to as sulfosuccinates or as sulfosuccinic acid esters and which are monoesters and / or diesters of sulfosuccinic acid with alcohols, preferably fatty alcohols and in particular ethoxylated fatty alcohols. Preferred sulfosuccinates contain C _8-18 fatty alcohol residues or mixtures of these. Particularly preferred sulfosuccinates contain a fatty alcohol residue derived from ethoxylated fatty alcohols, which by themselves are nonionic surfactants. Sulfosuccinates, whose fatty alcohol residues are derived from ethoxylated fatty alcohols with a narrow homolog distribution, are again particularly preferred. Likewise, it is also possible to use alk (en) ylsuccinic acid having preferably 8 to 18 carbon atoms in the alk (en) yl chain or salts thereof.

As further anionic surfactants are particularly soaps into consideration. Suitable are saturated fatty acid soaps, such as the salts of lauric acid, myristic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, hydrogenated erucic acid and behenic acid and in particular from natural fatty acids, for. Coconut, palm kernel or tallow fatty acids, derived soap mixtures.

The anionic surfactants, including the soaps, may be in the form of their sodium, potassium or ammonium salts and as soluble salts of organic bases, such as mono-, di- or triethanolamine. The anionic surfactants are preferably present in the form of their sodium or potassium salts, in particular in the form of the sodium salts.

Instead of the surfactants mentioned or in conjunction with them, it is also possible to use cationic and / or amphoteric surfactants.

worin jede Gruppe R¹ unabhängig voneinander ausgewählt ist aus C_1-6-Alkyl-, -Alkenyl- oder -Hydroxyalkylgruppen; jede Gruppe R² unabhängig voneinander ausgewählt ist aus C_8-28-Alkyl- oder -Alkenylgruppen; R³ = R¹ oder (CH₂)_n-T-R²; R⁴ = R¹ oder R² oder (CH₂)_n-T-R²; T = -CH₂-, -O-CO- oder -CO-O- und n eine ganze Zahl von 0 bis 5 ist. As cationic active substances, for example, cationic compounds of the following formulas can be used:

wherein each R ^{1 group is} independently selected from C _1-6 alkyl, alkenyl or hydroxyalkyl groups; each R ^{2 group is} independently selected from C _8-28 alkyl or alkenyl groups; R ³ = R ¹ or (CH ₂ ) _n -TR ² ; R ⁴ = R ¹ or R ² or (CH ₂ ) _n -TR ² ; T = -CH ₂ -, -O-CO- or -CO-O- and n is an integer from 0 to 5.

In automatic dishwashing detergents, the content of cationic and / or amphoteric surfactants is preferably less than 6% by weight, preferably less than 4% by weight, very particularly preferably less than 2% by weight and in particular less than 1% by weight. %. Automatic dishwashing detergents containing no cationic or amphoteric surfactants are particularly preferred.

polymers

The group of polymers includes, in particular, the washing or cleaning-active polymers, for example the rinse aid polymers and / or polymers which act as softeners. In general, cationic, anionic and amphoteric polymers can be used in detergents or cleaners in addition to nonionic polymers.

"Cationic polymers" in the context of the present invention are polymers which carry a positive charge in the polymer molecule. This can be realized, for example, by (alkyl) ammonium groups or other positively charged groups present in the polymer chain. Particularly preferred cationic polymers come from the groups of quaternized cellulose derivatives, the polysiloxanes with quaternary groups, the cationic guar derivatives, the polymeric dimethyldiallylammonium salts and their copolymers with esters and amides of acrylic acid and methacrylic acid, the copolymers of vinylpyrrolidone with quaternized derivatives of dialkylamino and methacrylates, the vinylpyrrolidone-methoimidazolinium chloride copolymers, the quaternized polyvinyl alcohols or the polymers specified under the INCI names Polyquaternium 2, Polyquaternium 17, Polyquaternium 18 and Polyquaternium 27.

For the purposes of the present invention, "amphoteric polymers" further comprise, in addition to a positively charged group in the polymer chain, also negatively charged groups or monomer units. These groups may be, for example, carboxylic acids, sulfonic acids or phosphonic acids.

Preferred washing or cleaning agents, in particular preferred automatic dishwashing agents, are characterized in that they contain a polymer a) which has monomer units of the formula R ¹ R ² C =CR ³ R ⁴ in which each R ¹ , R ² , R ⁴ radical ³ , R ^{4 is} independently selected from hydrogen, derivatized hydroxy, C _1-30 linear or branched alkyl groups, aryl, aryl substituted C _1-30 linear or branched alkyl groups, polyalkoxylated alkyl groups, heteroatomic organic groups having at least one positive charge without charged nitrogen , at least one quaternized nitrogen atom or at least one amino group having a positive charge in the partial range of the pH range of 2 to 11, or salts thereof, with the proviso that at least one radical R ¹ , R ² , R ³ , R ^{4 is} a heteroatomic organic group having at least one positive charge without charged nitrogen, at least one quaternized N atom or at least one amino group having a positive charge.

bei der R¹ und R⁴ unabhängig voneinander für H oder einen linearen oder verzweigten Kohlenwasserstoffrest mit 1 bis 6 Kohlenstoffatomen steht; R² und R³ unabhängig voneinander für eine Alkyl-, Hydroxyalkyl-, oder Aminoalkylgruppe stehen, in denen der Alkylrest linear oder verzweigt ist und zwischen 1 und 6 Kohlenstoffatomen aufweist, wobei es sich vorzugsweise um eine Methylgruppe handelt; x und y unabhängig voneinander für ganze Zahlen zwischen 1 und 3 stehen. X^☐ repräsentiert ein Gegenion, vorzugsweise ein Gegenion aus der Gruppe Chlorid, Bromid, Iodid, Sulfat, Hydrogensulfat, Methosulfat, Laurylsulfat, Dodecylbenzolsulfonat, p-Toluolsulfonat (Tosylat), Cumolsulfonat, Xylolsulfonat, Phosphat, Citrat, Formiat, Acetat oder deren Mischungen.In the context of the present application, particularly preferred cationic or amphoteric polymers contain as monomer unit a compound of the general formula

in which R ¹ and R ⁴ are each independently H or a linear or branched hydrocarbon radical having 1 to 6 carbon atoms; R ² and R ^{3 are} independently an alkyl, hydroxyalkyl, or aminoalkyl group in which the alkyl group is linear or branched and has from 1 to 6 carbon atoms, preferably a methyl group; x and y independently represent integers between 1 and 3. X ^□ represents a counterion, preferably a counterion from the group chloride, bromide, iodide, sulfate, hydrogen sulfate, methosulfate, lauryl sulfate, dodecylbenzenesulfonate, p-toluenesulfonate (tosylate), cumene sulfonate, xylenesulfonate, phosphate, citrate, formate, acetate or mixtures thereof.

Preferred radicals R ¹ and R ⁴ in the above formula are selected from -CH ₃ , -CH ₂ -CH ₃ , -CH ₂ -CH ₂ -CH ₃ , -CH (CH ₃ ) -CH ₃ , -CH ₂ -OH , -CH ₂ -CH ₂ -OH, -CH (OH) -CH ₃ , -CH ₂ -CH ₂ -CH ₂ -OH, -CH ₂ -CH (OH) -CH ₃ , -CH (OH) -CH ₂ -CH ₃ , and - (CH ₂ CH ₂ -O) _n H.

werden im Falle von X-^☐☐ = Chlorid auch als DADMAC (Diallyldimethylammonium-Chlorid) bezeichnet.Very particular preference is given to polymers which have a cationic monomer unit of the above general formula in which R ¹ and R ^{4 are} H, R ² and R ^{3 are} methyl and x and y are each 1. The corresponding monomer units of the formula

in the case of X- ^□ □ = chloride are also referred to as DADMAC (diallyldimethylammonium chloride).

in der R¹, R², R³, R⁴ und R⁵ unabhängig voneinander für einen linearen oder verzweigten, gesättigten oder ungesättigen Alkyl-, oder Hydroxyalkylrest mit 1 bis 6 Kohlenstoffatomen, vorzugsweise für einen linearen oder verzweigten Alkylrest ausgewählt aus -CH₃, -CH₂-CH₃, -CH₂-CH₂-CH₃, -CH(CH₃)-CH₃, -CH₂-OH, -CH₂-CH₂-OH, -CH(OH)-CH₃, -CH₂-CH₂-CH₂-OH, -CH₂-CH(OH)-CH-, -CH(OH)-CH₂-CH₃, und -(CH₂CH₂-O)_nH steht und x für eine ganze Zahl zwischen 1 und 6 steht.Further particularly preferred cationic or amphoteric polymers contain a monomer unit of the general formula

in which R ¹ , R ² , R ³ , R ⁴ and R ⁵ independently of one another are a linear or branched, saturated or unsaturated alkyl or hydroxyalkyl radical having 1 to 6 carbon atoms, preferably a linear or branched alkyl radical selected from -CH ₃ , -CH ₂ -CH ₃ , -CH ₂ -CH ₂ -CH ₃ , -CH (CH ₃ ) -CH ₃ , -CH ₂ -OH, -CH ₂ -CH ₂ -OH, -CH (OH) -CH ₃ , -CH ₂ -CH ₂ -CH ₂ -OH, -CH ₂ -CH (OH) -CH-, -CH (OH) -CH ₂ -CH ₃ , and - (CH ₂ CH ₂ -O) _n H and x is an integer between 1 and 6.

werden im Falle von X-^☐☐ = Chlorid auch als MAPTAC (Methyacrylamidopropyltrimethylammonium-Chlorid) bezeichnet.For the purposes of the present application, very particular preference is given to polymers which have a cationic monomer unit of the above general formula in which R ^{1 is} H and R ² , R ³ , R ⁴ and R ^{5 are} methyl and x is 3. The corresponding monomer units of the formula

in the case of X- ^□ □ = chloride are also referred to as MAPTAC (methylacrylamidopropyltrimethylammonium chloride).

According to the invention, preference is given to using polymers which contain diallyldimethylammonium salts and / or acrylamidopropyltrimethylammonium salts as monomer units.

The aforementioned amphoteric polymers have not only cationic groups but also anionic groups or monomer units. Such anionic monomer units are derived, for example, from the group of linear or branched, saturated or unsaturated carboxylates, linear or branched, saturated or unsaturated phosphonates, linear or branched, saturated or unsaturated sulfates or linear or branched, saturated or unsaturated sulfonates. Preferred monomer units are acrylic acid, (meth) acrylic acid, (dimethyl) acrylic acid, (ethyl) acrylic acid, cyanoacrylic acid, vinylessingic acid, allylacetic acid, crotonic acid, maleic acid, fumaric acid, cinnamic acid and its derivatives, allylsulfonic acids such as allyloxybenzenesulfonic acid and methallylsulfonic acid or the allylphosphonic acids.

Preferred employable amphoteric polymers are selected from the group of the alkylacrylamide / acrylic acid copolymers, the alkylacrylamide / methacrylic acid copolymers, the alkylacrylamide / methylmethacrylic acid copolymers, the alkylacrylamide / acrylic acid / alkylaminoalkyl (meth) acrylic acid copolymers, the alkylacrylamide / methacrylic acid / alkylaminoalkyl (meth) acrylic acid copolymers, the alkylacrylamide / methylmethacrylic acid / alkylaminoalkyl (meth) acrylic acid copolymers, the alkylacrylamide / alkymethacrylate / alkylaminoethylmethacrylate / alkylmethacrylate copolymers and the copolymers of unsaturated carboxylic acids, cationically derivatized unsaturated carboxylic acids and optionally further ionic or nonionogenic monomers.

Preferably usable zwitterionic polymers are selected from the group of acrylamidoalkyltrialkylammonium chloride / acrylic acid copolymers and their alkali metal and ammonium salts, the acrylamidoalkyltrialkylammonium chloride / methacrylic acid copolymers and their alkali metal and ammonium salts and the methacroylethylbetaine / methacrylate copolymers.

Also preferred are amphoteric polymers which comprise, in addition to one or more anionic monomers as cationic monomers, methacrylamidoalkyltrialkylammonium chloride and dimethyl (diallyl) ammonium chloride.

Particularly preferred amphoteric polymers are selected from the group consisting of the methacrylamidoalkyltrialkylammonium chloride / dimethyl (diallyl) ammonium chloride / acrylic acid copolymers, the methacrylamidoalkyltrialkylammonium chloride / dimethyl (diallyl) ammonium chloride / methacrylic acid copolymers and the methacrylamidoalkyltrialkylammonium chloride / dimethyl (diallyl) ammonium chloride / alkyl (meth) acrylic acid -Copolymers and their alkali metal and ammonium salts.

Particular preference is given to amphoteric polymers from the group of the methacrylamidopropyltrimethylammonium chloride / dimethyl (diallyl) ammonium chloride / acrylic acid copolymers, the methacrylamidopropyltrimethylammonium chloride / dimethyl (diallyl) ammonium chloride / acrylic acid copolymers and the methacrylamidopropyltrimethylammonium chloride / dimethyl (diallyl) ammonium chloride / alkyl ( meth) acrylic acid copolymers and their alkali metal and ammonium salts.

• – die Verkapselung der Polymere mittels wasserlöslicher oder wasserdispergierbarer Beschichtungsmittel, vorzugsweise mittels wasserlöslicher oder wasserdispergierbarer natürlicher oder synthetischer Polymere;
• – die Verkapselung der Polymere mittels wasserunlöslicher, schmelzbarer Beschichtungsmittel, vorzugsweise mittels wasserunlöslicher Beschichtungsmittel aus der Gruppe der Wachse oder Paraffine mit einem Schmelzpunkt oberhalb 30°C;
• – die Cogranulation der Polymere mit inerten Trägermaterialien, vorzugsweise mit Trägermaterialien aus der Gruppe der wasch- oder reinigungsaktiven Substanzen, besonders bevorzugt aus der Gruppe der Builder (Gerüststoffe) oder Cobuilder.

In a particularly preferred embodiment of the present invention, the polymers are present in prefabricated form. For the preparation of the polymers is suitable inter alia

• The encapsulation of the polymers by means of water-soluble or water-dispersible coating compositions, preferably by means of water-soluble or water-dispersible natural or synthetic polymers;
• - The encapsulation of the polymers by means of water-insoluble, fusible coating compositions, preferably by means of water-insoluble coating agents from the group of waxes or paraffins having a melting point above 30 ° C;
• - The cogranulation of the polymers with inert support materials, preferably with support materials from the group of washing or cleaning-active substances, particularly preferably from the group of builders (builders) or cobuilders.

Detergents or cleaning agents contain the aforementioned cationic and / or amphoteric polymers preferably in amounts of between 0.01 and 10 wt .-%, each based on the total weight of the detergent or cleaning agent. In the context of the present application, however, preference is given to those detergents or cleaners in which the weight fraction of the cationic and / or amphoteric polymers is between 0.01 and 8% by weight, preferably between 0.01 and 6% by weight, preferably between 0.01 and 4 wt .-%, particularly preferably between 0.01 and 2 wt .-% and in particular between 0.01 and 1 wt .-%, each based on the total weight of the automatic dishwashing agent is.

Effective polymers as softeners are, for example, the sulfonic acid-containing polymers which are used with particular preference.

Particularly preferred as sulfonic acid-containing polymers are copolymers of unsaturated carboxylic acids, sulfonic acid-containing monomers and optionally other ionic or nonionic monomers.

In the context of the present invention are as unsaturated monomer carboxylic acids of the formula R ¹ (R ² ) C = C (R ³ ) COOH in which R ¹ to R ³ independently of one another are -H, -CH ₃ , a straight-chain or branched saturated alkyl radical having 2 to 12 carbon atoms, a straight-chain or branched, mono- or polyunsaturated alkenyl radical having 2 to 12 carbon atoms, NH ₂ , -OH or -COOH substituted alkyl or alkenyl radicals or -COOH or -COOR ⁴ , wherein R ^{4 is} a saturated or unsaturated, straight-chain or branched hydrocarbon radical having 1 to 12 carbon atoms.

Among the unsaturated carboxylic acids which can be described by the above formula are in particular acrylic acid (R ¹ = R ² = R ³ = H), methacrylic acid (R ¹ = R ² = H, R ³ = CH ₃ ) and / or maleic acid (R ¹ = COOH; R ² = R ³ = H) is preferred.

In the sulfonic acid-containing monomers are those of the formula R ⁵ (R ⁶ ) C = C (R ⁷ ) -X-SO ³ H in which R ⁵ to R ⁷ independently of one another are -H, -CH ₃ , a straight-chain or branched saturated alkyl radical having 2 to 12 carbon atoms, a straight-chain or branched, mono- or polyunsaturated alkenyl radical having 2 to 12 carbon atoms, NH ₂ , -OH or -COOH substituted alkyl or alkenyl radicals or -COOH or -COOR ⁴ , wherein R ^{4 is} a saturated or unsaturated, straight-chain or branched hydrocarbon radical having 1 to 12 carbon atoms, and X is an optional spacer group which is selected from - (CH ₂ ) _n - with n = 0 to 4, -COO- (CH ₂ ) _k - with k = 1 to 6, -C (O) -NH-C (CH ₃ ) ₂ - and -C (O) -NH-CH (CH ₂ CH ₃ ) -.

Preferred among these monomers are those of the formulas H ₂ C = CH-X-SO ₃ H H ₂ C = C (CH ₃ ) -X-SO ₃ H HO ₃ SX- (R ⁶ ) C = C (R ⁷ ) -X-SO ₃ H, in which R ⁶ and R ^{7 are} independently selected from -H, -CH ₃ , -CH ₂ CH ₃ , -CH ₂ CH ₂ CH ₃ , -CH (CH ₃ ) ₂ and X is an optional spacer group which is selected from - (CH ₂ ) _n - with n = 0 to 4, -COO- (CH ₂ ) _k - with k = 1 to 6, -C (O) -NH-C (CH ₃ ) ₂ - and - C (O) -NH-CH (CH ₂ CH ₃ ) -.

Particularly preferred monomers containing sulfonic acid groups are 1-acrylamido-1-propanesulfonic acid, 2-acrylamido-2-propanesulfonic acid, 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid, 2-methacrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid, 3 Methacrylamido-2-hydroxypropanesulfonic acid, allylsulfonic acid, methallylsulfonic acid, allyloxybenzenesulfonic acid, methallyloxybenzenesulfonic acid, 2-hydroxy-3- (2-propenyloxy) propanesulfonic acid, 2-methyl-2-propene-1-sulfonic acid, styrenesulfonic acid, vinylsulfonic acid, 3-sulfopropyl acrylate, 3-sulfopropyl methacrylate , Sulfomethacrylamide, sulfomethylmethacrylamide and water-soluble salts of said acids.

Particularly suitable other ionic or nonionic monomers are ethylenically unsaturated compounds. The content of the polymers used in these other ionic or nonionic monomers is preferably less than 20% by weight, based on the polymer. Particularly preferred polymers to be used consist only of monomers of the formula R ¹ (R ² ) C =C (R ³ ) COOH and monomers of the formula R ⁵ (R ⁶ ) C =C (R ⁷ ) -X-SO ₃ H.

• i) einer oder mehreren ungesättigter Carbonsäuren aus der Gruppe Acrylsäure, Methacrylsäure und/oder Maleinsäure
• ii) einem oder mehreren Sulfonsäuregruppen-haltigen Monomeren der Formeln: H₂C=CH-X-SO₃H H₂C=C(CH₃)-X-SO₃H HO₃S-X-(R⁶)C=C(R⁷)-X-SO₃H, in der R⁶ und R⁷ unabhängig voneinander ausgewählt sind aus -H, -CH₃, CH₂CH₃, -CH₂CH₂CH₃, -CH(CH₃)₂ und X für eine optional vorhandene Spacergruppe steht, die ausgewählt ist aus -(CH₂)_n- mit n = 0 bis 4, -COO-(CH₂)_k- mit k = 1 bis 6, -C(O)-NH-C(CH₃)₂- und -C(O)-NH-CH(CH₂CH₃)-
• iii) gegebenenfalls weiteren ionogenen oder nichtionogenen Monomeren. Die Copolymere können die Monomere aus den Gruppen i) und ii) sowie gegebenenfalls
• iii) in variierenden Mengen enthalten, wobei sämtliche Vertreter aus der Gruppe i) mit sämtlichen Vertretern aus der Gruppe ii) und sämtlichen Vertretern aus der Gruppe iii) kombiniert werden können. Besonders bevorzugte Polymere weisen bestimmte Struktureinheiten auf, die nachfolgend beschrieben werden.

Further particularly preferred copolymers consist of

• i) one or more unsaturated carboxylic acids from the group of acrylic acid, methacrylic acid and / or maleic acid
• ii) one or more sulfonic acid group-containing monomers of the formulas: H ₂ C = CH-X-SO ₃ H H ₂ C = C (CH ₃ ) -X-SO ₃ H HO ₃ SX- (R ⁶ ) C = C (R ⁷ ) -X-SO ₃ H, wherein R ⁶ and R ^{7 are} independently selected from -H, -CH ₃ , CH ₂ CH ₃ , -CH ₂ CH ₂ CH ₃ , -CH (CH ₃ ) _2, and X is an optional spacer group selected is composed of - (CH ₂ ) _n - with n = 0 to 4, -COO- (CH ₂ ) _k - with k = 1 to 6, -C (O) -NH-C (CH ₃ ) ₂ - and -C (O) -NH-CH (CH ₂ CH ₃ ) -
• iii) optionally further ionogenic or nonionic monomers. The copolymers may contain the monomers from groups i) and ii) and optionally
• iii) in varying quantities, whereby all representatives from group i) can be combined with all representatives from group ii) and all representatives from group iii). Particularly preferred polymers have certain structural units, which are described below.

For example, copolymers which are structural units of the formula are preferred - [CH ₂ -CHCOOH] _m - [CH ₂ -CHC (O) -Y-SO ₃ H] _p - in which m and p are each an integer between 1 and 2,000 and Y is a spacer group selected from substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic, aromatic or substituted aromatic hydrocarbon radicals having 1 to 24 carbon atoms, wherein spacer groups in which Y. for -O- (CH ₂ ) _n - with n = 0 to 4, for -O- (C ₆ H ₄ ) -, for -NH-C (CH ₃ ) ₂ - or -NH-CH (CH ₂ CH ₃ ) - are, are preferred.

These polymers are prepared by copolymerization of acrylic acid with a sulfonic acid-containing acrylic acid derivative. When the acrylic acid derivative containing sulfonic acid groups is copolymerized with methacrylic acid, another polymer is obtained whose use is likewise preferred. The corresponding copolymers contain the structural units of the formula - [CH ₂ -C (CH ₃ ) COOH] _m - [CH ₂ -CHC (O) -Y-SO ₃ H] _p -, in which m and p are each an integer between 1 and 2000 and Y is a spacer group selected from substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic, aromatic or substituted aromatic hydrocarbon radicals having 1 to 24 carbon atoms, wherein O- (CH ₂ ) _n - with n = 0 to 4, for -O- (C ₆ H ₄ ) -, for -NH-C (CH ₃ ) ₂ - or -NH-CH (CH ₂ CH ₃ ) - is, are preferred.

Acrylic acid and / or methacrylic acid can also be copolymerized completely analogously with methacrylic acid derivatives containing sulfonic acid groups, as a result of which the structural units in the molecule are changed. Thus, copolymers which are structural units of the formula - [CH ₂ -CHCOOH] _m - [CH ₂ -C (CH ₃ ) C (O) -Y-SO ₃ H] _p in which m and p are each an integer between 1 and 2,000 and Y is a spacer group selected from substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic, aromatic or substituted aromatic hydrocarbon radicals having 1 to 24 carbon atoms, wherein spacer groups in which Y. for -O- (CH ₂ ) _n - with n = 0 to 4, for -O- (C ₆ H ₄ ) -, for -NH-C (CH ₃ ) ₂ - or -NH-CH (CH ₂ CH ₃ ) -, are particularly preferred, just as preferred as copolymers, the structural units of the formula - [CH ₂ -C (CH ₃ ) COOH] _m - [CH ₂ -C (CH ₃ ) C (O) -Y-SO ₃ H] _p in which m and p are each an integer between 1 and 2,000 and Y is a spacer group selected from substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic, aromatic or substituted aromatic hydrocarbon radicals having 1 to 24 carbon atoms, wherein spacer groups in which Y. for -O- (CH ₂ ) n- where n = 0 to 4, for -O- (C ₆ H ₄ ) -, for -NH-C (CH ₃ ) ₂ or -NH-CH (CH ₂ CH ₃ ) - are, are preferred.

Instead of acrylic acid and / or methacrylic acid or in addition thereto, maleic acid can also be used as a particularly preferred monomer from group i). This gives way to inventively preferred copolymers, the structural units of the formula - [HOOCCH-CHCOOH] _m - [CH ₂ -CHC (O) -Y-SO ₃ H] _p in which m and p are in each case an integer from 1 to 2000 and Y is a spacer group selected from substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic, aromatic or araliphatic hydrocarbon radicals having from 1 to 24 carbon atoms, wherein spacer groups in which Y represents -O- (CH ₂ ) _n - with n = 0 to 4, for -O- (C ₆ H ₄ ) -, for -NH-C (CH ₃ ) ₂ - or -NH-CH (CH ₂ CH ₃ ) - stands, are preferred. Also preferred according to the invention are copolymers which contain structural units of the formula - [HOOCCH-CHCOOH] _m - [CH ₂ -C (CH ₃ ) C (O) OY-SO ₃ H] _p in which m and p are each an integer between 1 and 2,000 and Y is a spacer group selected from substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic, aromatic or substituted aromatic hydrocarbon radicals having 1 to 24 carbon atoms, wherein spacer groups in which Y. for -O- (CH ₂ ) _n - with n = 0 to 4, for -O- (C ₆ H ₄ ) -, for -NH-C (CH ₃ ) ₂ - or -NH-CH (CH ₂ CH ₃ )- stands.

In the polymers, the sulfonic acid groups may be wholly or partially in neutralized form, d. H. the acidic acid of the sulfonic acid group in some or all sulfonic acid groups can be exchanged for metal ions, preferably alkali metal ions and in particular for sodium ions. The use of partially or fully neutralized sulfonic acid-containing copolymers is preferred according to the invention.

The monomer distribution of the copolymers preferably used according to the invention in the case of copolymers which contain only monomers from groups i) and ii) is preferably in each case from 5 to 95% by weight i) or ii), particularly preferably from 50 to 90% by weight monomer from group i) and from 10 to 50% by weight of monomer from group ii), in each case based on the polymer.

In the case of terpolymers, particular preference is given to those containing from 20 to 85% by weight of monomer from group i), from 10 to 60% by weight of monomer from group ii) and from 5 to 30% by weight of monomer from group iii) ,

The molar mass of the sulfo copolymers preferably used according to the invention can be varied in order to adapt the properties of the polymers to the desired end use. Preferred washing or cleaning agents are characterized in that the copolymers have molar masses of 2000 to 200,000 gmol ^-1 , preferably from 4000 to 25,000 gmol ^-1 and in particular from 5000 to 15,000 gmol ^-1 .

bleach

The bleaching agents are a particularly preferred washing or cleaning substance. Among the compounds serving as bleaches in water H ₂ O ₂ , sodium percarbonate, sodium perborate tetrahydrate and sodium perborate monohydrate are of particular importance. Other useful bleaching agents are, for example, peroxypyrophosphates, citrate perhydrates and H ₂ O ₂ -producing peracidic salts or peracids, such as perbenzoates, peroxophthalates, diperazelaic acid, phthaloimino peracid or diperdodecanedioic acid.

Furthermore, bleaching agents from the group of organic bleaching agents can also be used. Typical organic bleaching agents are the diacyl peroxides, such as. B. dibenzoyl peroxide. Other typical organic bleaches are the peroxyacids, examples of which include the alkyl peroxyacids and the aryl peroxyacids. Preferred representatives are (a) the peroxybenzoic acid and its ring-substituted derivatives, such as alkylperoxybenzoic acids, but also peroxy-α-naphthoic acid and magnesium monoperphthalate, (b) the aliphatic or substituted aliphatic peroxyacids, such as peroxylauric acid, peroxystearic acid, ε-phthalimidoperoxycaproic acid [phthaliminoperoxyhexanoic acid (PAP)] , o-Carboxybenzamidoperoxycaproic acid, N-Nonenylamidoperadipic Acid and N-Nonenylamidopersuccinate, and (c) aliphatic and araliphatic peroxydicarboxylic acids, such as 1,12-Diperoxycarboxylic acid, 1,9-Diperoxyazelaic acid, Diperocysebacic acid, Diperoxybrassic acid, the Diperoxyphthalic acids, 2-Decyldiperoxybutan-1,4- diacid, N, N-terephthaloyl-di (6-aminopercapronate).

As a bleaching agent and chlorine or bromine releasing substances can be used. Among the suitable chlorine or bromine releasing materials are, for example, heterocyclic N-bromo- and N-chloroamides, for example trichloroisocyanuric acid, tribromoisocyanuric acid, dibromoisocyanuric acid and / or dichloroisocyanuric acid (DICA) and / or salts thereof with cations such as potassium and sodium. Hydantoin compounds such as 1,3-dichloro-5,5-dimethylhydantoin are also suitable.

According to the invention, washing or cleaning agents, in particular automatic dishwashing agents, are preferred which contain from 1 to 35% by weight, preferably from 2.5 to 30% by weight, particularly preferably from 3.5 to 20% by weight and in particular from 5 to 15% by weight % Bleach, preferably sodium percarbonate.

The active oxygen content of the washing or cleaning agents, in particular the automatic dishwashing agents, in each case based on the total weight of the composition, preferably between 0.4 and 10 wt .-%, particularly preferably between 0.5 and 8 wt .-% and in particular between 0.6 and 5 wt .-%. Particularly preferred compositions have an active oxygen content above 0.3 wt .-%, preferably above 0.7 wt .-%, more preferably above 0.8 wt .-% and in particular above 1.0 wt .-% to.

Bleach activators

Bleach activators are used in laundry detergents or cleaners, for example, to achieve an improved bleaching effect when cleaned at temperatures of 60 ° C and below. As bleach activators, it is possible to use compounds which, under perhydrolysis conditions, give aliphatic peroxycarboxylic acids having preferably 1 to 10 C atoms, in particular 2 to 4 C atoms, and / or optionally substituted perbenzoic acid. Suitable substances are those which carry C and / or N-acyl groups of the stated C atom number and / or optionally substituted benzoyl groups. Preference is given to polyacylated alkylenediamines, in particular tetraacetylethylenediamine (TAED), acylated triazine derivatives, in particular 1,5-diacetyl-2,4-dioxohexahydro-1,3,5-triazine (DADHT), acylated glycolurils, in particular tetraacetylglycoluril (TAGU), N- Acylimides, in particular N-nonanoylsuccinimide (NOSI), acylated phenolsulfonates, in particular n-nonanoyl or isononanoyloxybenzenesulfonate (n- or iso-NOBS), carboxylic anhydrides, in particular phthalic anhydride, acylated polyhydric alcohols, in particular triacetin, ethylene glycol diacetate and 2,5-diacetoxy- 2,5-dihydrofuran, n-methyl-morpholinium-acetonitrile-methylsulfate (MMA) and also acetylated sorbitol and mannitol or mixtures thereof (SORMAN), acylated sugar derivatives, in particular pentaacetylglucose (PAG), pentaacetyl-fructose, tetraacetyl-xylose and octaacetyl lactose as well as acetylated, optionally N- alkylated glucamine and gluconolactone, and / or N-acylated lactams, for example N-benzoyl-caprolactam. Hydrophilic substituted acyl acetals and acyl lactams are also preferably used. Combinations of conventional bleach activators can also be used.

These bleach activators are preferably used in amounts of up to 10% by weight, in particular from 0.1% by weight to 8% by weight, especially from 2 to 8% by weight and more preferably from 2 to 6% by weight, based in each case on the total weight of bleach activator-containing agents.

in der R¹ für -H, -CH₃, einen C_2-24-Alkyl- oder -Alkenylrest, einen substituierten C_2-24-Alkyl- oder -Alkenylrest mit mindestens einem Substituenten aus der Gruppe -Cl, -Br, -OH, -NH₂, -CN, einen Alkyl- oder Alkenylarylrest mit einer C_1-24-Alkylgruppe, oder für einen substituierten Alkyl- oder Alkenylarylrest mit einer C_1-24-Alkylgruppe und mindestens einem weiteren Substituenten am aromatischen Ring steht, R² und R³ unabhängig voneinander ausgewählt sind aus -CH₂-CN, -CH₃, -CH₂-CH₃, -CH₂-CH₂-CH₃, -CH(CH₃)-CH₃, -CH₂-OH, -CH₂-CH₂-OH, -CH(OH)-CH₃, -CH₂-CH₂-CH₂-OH, -CH₂-CH(OH)-CH₃, -CH(OH)-CH₂-CH₃, -(CH₂CH₂-O)_nH mit n = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 oder 6 und X ein Anion ist.Further bleach activators preferably used in the context of the present application are compounds from the group of cationic nitriles, in particular cationic nitriles of the formula

in the R ^{1 is} -H, -CH ₃ , a C _2-24 alkyl or alkenyl radical, a substituted C _2-24 alkyl or alkenyl radical having at least one substituent from the group -Cl, -Br, - OH, -NH ₂ , -CN, an alkyl or alkenylaryl radical having a C _1-24 -alkyl group, or represents a substituted alkyl or alkenylaryl radical having a C _1-24 -alkyl group and at least one further substituent on the aromatic ring, R ² and R ^{3 are} independently selected from -CH ₂ -CN, -CH ₃ , -CH ₂ -CH ₃ , -CH ₂ -CH ₂ -CH ₃ , -CH (CH ₃ ) -CH ₃ , -CH ₂ - OH, -CH ₂ -CH ₂ -OH, -CH (OH) -CH ₃ , -CH ₂ -CH ₂ -CH ₂ -OH, -CH ₂ -CH (OH) -CH ₃ , -CH (OH) - CH ₂ -CH ₃ , - (CH ₂ CH ₂ -O) _n H where n = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 and X is an anion.

in der R⁴, R⁵ und R⁶ unabhängig voneinander ausgewählt sind aus -CH₃, -CH₂-CH₃, -CH₂-CH₂-CH₃, -CH(CH₃)-CH₃, wobei R⁴ zusätzlich auch -H sein kann und X ein Anion ist, wobei vorzugsweise R⁵ = R⁶ = -CH₃ und insbesondere R⁴ = R⁵ = R⁶ = -CH₃ gilt und Verbindungen der Formeln (CH₃)₃N⁽⁺⁾CH₂-CN X^–, (CH₃CH₂)₃N⁽⁺⁾CH₂-CN X^–, (CH₃CH₂CH₂)₃N⁽⁺⁾CH₂-CN X^–, (CH₃CH(CH₃))3N⁽⁺⁾CH₂-CN X^–, oder (HO-CH₂-CH₂)₃N⁽⁺⁾CH₂-CN X^– besonders bevorzugt sind, wobei aus der Gruppe dieser Substanzen wiederum das kationische Nitril der Formel (CH₃)₃N⁽⁺⁾CH₂-CN X^–, in welcher X^– für ein Anion steht, das aus der Gruppe Chlorid, Bromid, Iodid, Hydrogensulfat, Methosulfat, p-Toluolsulfonat (Tosylat) oder Xylolsulfonat ausgewählt ist, besonders bevorzugt wird.Particularly preferred is a cationic nitrile of the formula

in which R ⁴ , R ⁵ and R ^{6 are} independently selected from -CH ₃ , -CH ₂ -CH ₃ , -CH ₂ -CH ₂ -CH ₃ , -CH (CH ₃ ) -CH ₃ , wherein R ⁴ additionally also -H may be and X is an anion, preferably R ⁵ = R ⁶ = -CH ₃ and in particular R ⁴ = R ⁵ = R ⁶ = -CH ₃ and compounds of the formulas (CH ₃ ) ₃ N ⁽⁺⁾ CH ₂ -CN X ^- , (CH ₃ CH ₂ ) ₃ N ⁽⁺⁾ CH ₂ -CN X ^- , (CH ₃ CH ₂ CH ₂ ) ₃ N ⁽⁺⁾ CH ₂ -CN X ^- , (CH ₃ CH ( CH ₃ )) 3N ⁽⁺⁾ CH ₂ -CN X ^- , or (HO-CH ₂ -CH ₂ ) ₃ N ⁽⁺⁾ CH ₂ -CN X ^{- are} particularly preferred, wherein from the group of these substances turn the cationic nitrile of the formula (CH ₃ ) ₃ N ⁽⁺⁾ CH ₂ -CN X ^- in which X ^{- represents} an anion selected from the group consisting of chloride, bromide, iodide, hydrogensulfate, methosulfate, p-toluenesulfonate (tosylate) or xylenesulfonate is, is particularly preferred.

bleach catalysts

In addition to the conventional bleach activators or in their place, so-called bleach catalysts can also be used. These substances are bleach-enhancing transition metal salts or transition metal complexes such as Mn, Fe, Co, Ru or Mo saline complexes or carbonyl complexes. Mn, Fe, Co, Ru, Mo, Ti, V and Cu complexes with N-containing tripod ligands and Co, Fe, Cu and Ru ammine complexes can also be used as bleach catalysts.

Bleach-enhancing transition metal complexes, in particular having the central atoms Mn, Fe, Co, Cu, Mo, V, Ti and / or Ru, preferably selected from the group of the manganese and / or cobalt salts and / or complexes, particularly preferably the cobalt (ammine) Complexes, the cobalt (acetate) complexes, the cobalt (carbonyl) complexes, the chlorides of cobalt or manganese, of the manganese sulfate are in conventional amounts, preferably in an amount up to 5 wt .-%, in particular of 0.0025 Wt .-% to 1 wt .-% and particularly preferably from 0.01 wt .-% to 0.25 wt .-%, each based on the total weight of the inventive agents used. In special cases, however, more bleach activator can also be used.

It is particularly preferred to use complexes of manganese in the oxidation state II, III, IV or IV, which preferably contain one or more macrocyclic ligands with the donor functions N, NR, PR, O and / or S. Preferably, ligands are used which have nitrogen donor functions. It is particularly preferred to use bleach catalyst (s) in the compositions of the invention, which as macromolecular ligands 1,4,7-trimethyl-1,4,7-triazacyclononan (Me-TACN), 1,4,7-triazacyclononane (TACN ), 1,5,9-trimethyl-1,5,9-triazacyclododecane (Me-TACD), 2-methyl-1,4,7-trimethyl-1,4,7-triazacyclononane (Me / Me-TACN) and or 2-methyl-1,4,7-triazacyclononane (Me / TACN). Suitable manganese complexes are, for example, [Mn ^III ₂ (μ-O) ₁ (μ-OAc) ₂ (TACN) ₂ ] (ClO ₄ ) ₂ , [Mn ^III Mn ^IV (μ-O) ₂ (μ-OAc) ₁ (TACN ) ₂ ] (BPh ₄ ) ₂ , [Mn ^IV ₄ (μ-O) ₆ (TACN) ₄ ] (ClO ₄ ) ₄ , [Mn ^III ₂ (μ-O) ₁ (μ-OAc) ₂ (Me-TACN ) ₂ ] (ClO ₄ ) ₂ , [Mn ^III Mn ^IV (μ-O) ₁ (μ-OAc) ₂ (Me-TACN) ₂ ] (ClO ₄ ) ₃ , [Mn ^IV ₂ (μ-O) ₃ ( Me-TACN) ₂ ] (PF ₆ ) ₂ and [Mn ^IV ₂ (μ-O) ₃ (Me / Me-TACN) ₂ ] (PF ₆ ) ₂ (OAc = OC (O) CH ₃ ).

To increase the washing or cleaning performance of detergents or cleaners, the detergents and cleaners according to the invention may contain further enzymes. These include in particular proteases, amylases, lipases, hemicellulases, cellulases or oxidoreductases, and preferably mixtures thereof. These enzymes are basically of natural origin; Starting from the natural molecules, improved variants are available for use in detergents and cleaners, which are preferably used accordingly. Detergents or cleaning agents contain enzymes preferably in total amounts of 1 × 10 ^-6 to 5 wt .-% based on active protein. The protein concentration can be determined by known methods, for example the BCA method or the biuret method.

Among the proteases, those of the subtilisin type are preferable. Examples of these are the subtilisins BPN 'and Carlsberg and their further developed forms, the protease PB92, the subtilisins 147 and 309, the alkaline protease from Bacillus lentus, subtilisin DY and the enzymes thermitase which can no longer be assigned to the subtilisins in the narrower sense, Proteinase K and the proteases TW3 and TW7.

Examples of amylases which can be used according to the invention are the α-amylases from Bacillus licheniformis, from B. amyloliquefaciens, from B. stearothermophilus, from Aspergillus niger and A. oryzae as well as the further developments of the abovementioned amylases which are improved for use in detergents and cleaners. Furthermore, for this purpose, the α-amylase from Bacillus sp. A 7-7 (DSM 12368) and the cyclodextrin glucanotransferase (CGTase) from B. agaradherens (DSM 9948).

Also usable according to the invention are lipases or cutinases, in particular because of their triglyceride-splitting activities, but also in order to generate in situ peracids from suitable precursors. These include, for example, the lipases originally obtainable from Humicola lanuginosa (Thermomyces lanuginosus) or further developed, in particular those with the amino acid exchange D96L. Furthermore, for example, the cutinases can be used, which were originally isolated from Fusarium solani pisi and Humicola insolens. It is also possible to use lipases, or cutinases, whose initial enzymes were originally isolated from Pseudomonas mendocina and Fusarium solanii.

Furthermore, enzymes can be used, which are summarized by the term hemicellulases. These include, for example, mannanases, xanthan lyases, pectin lyases (= pectinases), pectin esterases, pectate lyases, xyloglucanases (= xylanases), pullulanases and β-glucanases. Further usable enzymes are carrageenases and tannases.

Likewise, perhydrolases can be used in the compositions according to the invention.

To increase the bleaching effect according to the invention further oxidoreductases, for example, further oxidases, oxygenases, catalases, peroxidases, such as halo-, chloro-, bromo-, lignin, glucose or manganese peroxidases, dioxygenases or laccases (phenol oxidases, polyphenol oxidases) can be used , Advantageously, it is additionally preferred to add organic, particularly preferably aromatic, compounds which interact with the enzymes in order to enhance the activity of the relevant oxidoreductases (enhancers) or to ensure the flow of electrons (mediators) at greatly varying redox potentials between the oxidizing enzymes and the soils.

The enzymes can be used in any form known in the art. These include, for example, the solid preparations obtained by granulation, extrusion or lyophilization or, especially in the case of liquid or gel-form detergents, solutions of the enzymes, advantageously as concentrated as possible, sparing in water and / or added with stabilizers.

Alternatively, the enzymes may be encapsulated for both the solid and liquid dosage forms, for example by spray-drying or extruding the enzyme solution together with a preferably natural polymer or in the form of capsules, for example those in which the enzymes are entrapped as in a solidified gel or in those of the core-shell type, in which an enzyme-containing core is coated with a water, air and / or chemical impermeable protective layer. In deposited layers, further active ingredients, for example stabilizers, emulsifiers, pigments, bleaches or dyes, may additionally be applied. Such capsules are applied by methods known per se, for example by shaking or rolling granulation or in fluid-bed processes. Advantageously, such granules, for example by applying polymeric film-forming agent, low in dust and storage stable due to the coating.

Furthermore, it is possible to assemble two or more enzymes together so that a single granule has several enzyme activities.

A protein and / or enzyme may be particularly protected during storage against damage such as inactivation, denaturation or degradation, such as by physical influences, oxidation or proteolytic cleavage. In the case of microbial recovery of the proteins and / or enzymes, inhibition of proteolysis is particularly preferred, especially if the agents also contain proteases. Detergents may contain stabilizers for this purpose; the provision of such means constitutes a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Glass corrosion inhibitors

Glass corrosion inhibitors prevent the occurrence of haze, streaks and scratches, but also iridescence of the glass surface of machine-cleaned glasses. Preferred glass corrosion inhibitors come from the group of magnesium and zinc salts and magnesium and zinc complexes.

The spectrum of the invention preferred zinc salts, preferably organic acids, particularly preferably organic carboxylic acids, ranging from salts which are difficult or insoluble in water, ie a solubility below 100 mg / l, preferably below 10 mg / l, in particular below 0.01 have mg / l, to those salts which have a solubility in water above 100 mg / l, preferably above 500 mg / l, more preferably above 1 g / l and in particular above 5 g / l (all solubilities at 20 ° C water temperature). The first group of zinc salts includes, for example, zinc citrate, zinc oleate and zinc stearate, and the group of soluble zinc salts includes, for example, zinc formate, zinc acetate, zinc lactate and zinc gluconate.

With particular preference is used as the glass corrosion inhibitor at least one zinc salt of an organic carboxylic acid, particularly preferably a zinc salt from the group zinc stearate, zinc oleate, zinc gluconate, zinc acetate, zinc lactate and zinc citrate. Zinc ricinoleate, zinc abietate and zinc oxalate are also preferred.

In the context of the present invention, the content of zinc salt in detergents or cleaners is preferably between 0.1 and 5% by weight, preferably between 0.2 and 4% by weight and in particular between 0.4 and 3% by weight. , or the content of zinc in oxidized form (calculated as Zn ²⁺ ) between 0.01 to 1 wt .-%, preferably between 0.02 to 0.5 wt .-% and in particular between 0.04 to 0, 2 wt .-%, each based on the total weight of the glass corrosion inhibitor-containing agent.

Corrosion inhibitors serve to protect the items to be washed or the machine, with particular silver protectants being of particular importance in the field of automatic dishwashing. It is possible to use the known substances of the prior art. In general, silver protectants selected from the group of triazoles, benzotriazoles, bisbenzotriazoles, aminotriazoles, alkylaminotriazoles and transition metal salts or complexes can be used in particular. Particularly preferred to use are benzotriazole and / or alkylaminotriazole. According to the invention, preference is given to using 3-amino-5-alkyl-1,2,4-triazoles or their physiologically tolerated salts, these substances being particularly preferably used in a concentration of 0.001 to 10% by weight, preferably 0.0025 to 2 Wt .-%, particularly preferably 0.01 to 0.04 wt .-% are used. Preferred acids for salt formation are hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid, carbonic acid, sulphurous acid, organic carboxylic acids such as acetic, glycolic, citric, succinic acid. Especially effective are 5-pentyl, 5-heptyl, 5-nonyl, 5-undecyl, 5-isononyl, 5-versatic-10-alkyl-3-amino-1,2,4-triazoles and mixtures of these substances.

In addition, cleaner formulations often contain active chlorine-containing agents which can markedly reduce the corrosion of the silver surface. In chlorine-free cleaners are particularly oxygen and nitrogen-containing organic redox-active compounds such as di- and trihydric phenols, eg. As hydroquinone, pyrocatechol, hydroxyhydroquinone, gallic acid, phloroglucinol, pyrogallol or derivatives of these classes of compounds used. Also, salt and complex inorganic compounds, such as salts of the metals Mn, Ti, Zr, Hf, V, Co and Ce are often used. Preferred here are the transition metal salts which are selected from the group of the manganese and / or cobalt salts and / or complexes, particularly preferably the cobalt (ammin) complexes, the cobalt (acetate) complexes, the cobalt (carbonyl) - Complexes, the chlorides of cobalt or manganese and manganese sulfate. Also, zinc compounds can be used to prevent corrosion on the items to be washed.

Instead of or in addition to the silver protectants described above, for example the benzotriazoles, redox-active substances can be used. These substances are preferably inorganic redox-active substances from the group of manganese, titanium, zirconium, hafnium, vanadium, cobalt and cerium salts and / or complexes, wherein the metals preferably in one of the oxidation states II, III, IV, V or VI are present.

The metal salts or metal complexes used should be at least partially soluble in water. The counterions suitable for salt formation comprise all customary mono-, di- or tri-positively negatively charged inorganic anions, eg. As oxide, sulfate, nitrate, fluoride, but also organic anions such. Stearate.

Particularly preferred metal salts and / or metal complexes are selected from the group MnSO ₄ , Mn (II) citrate, Mn (II) stearate, Mn (II) acetylacetonate, Mn (II) - [1-hydroxyethane-1,1- diphosphonate], V ₂ O ₅ , V ₂ O ₄ , VO ₂ , TiOSO ₄ , K ₂ TiF ₆ , K ₂ ZrF ₆ , CoSO ₄ , Co (NO ₃ ) ₂ , Ce (NO ₃ ) ₃ , and mixtures thereof, such that the metal salts and / or metal complexes are selected from the group MnSO ₄ , Mn (II) citrate, Mn (II) stearate, Mn (II) acetylacetonate, Mn (II) - [1-hydroxyethane-1,1- diphosphonate], V ₂ O ₅ , V ₂ O ₄ , VO ₂ , TiOSO ₄ , K ₂ TiF ₆ , K ₂ ZrF ₆ , CoSO ₄ , Co (NO ₃ ) ₂ , Ce (NO ₃ ) _{3 are used} with particular preference ,

The inorganic redox-active substances, in particular metal salts or metal complexes, are preferably coated, ie completely coated with a water-tight material which is readily soluble in the cleaning temperatures, in order to prevent their premature decomposition or oxidation during storage. Preferred coating materials, which are applied by known methods, such as Sandwik melt coating processes from the food industry, are paraffins, microwaxes, natural waxes Origin such as carnauba wax, candellila wax, beeswax, higher melting alcohols such as hexadecanol, soaps or fatty acids.

The metal salts and / or metal complexes mentioned are contained in cleaning agents, preferably in an amount of 0.05 to 6 wt .-%, preferably 0.2 to 2.5 wt .-%, each based on the total agent.

In order to facilitate the disintegration of preformed moldings, it is possible to incorporate disintegration aids, so-called tablet disintegrants, into these compositions in order to shorten the disintegration times. By tablet disintegrants or disintegrants are meant auxiliaries which ensure the rapid disintegration of tablets in water or other media and for the release of the active ingredients.

These substances, which are also referred to as "explosives" due to their effect, increase their volume upon ingress of water, on the one hand increasing the intrinsic volume (swelling), and on the other hand creating a pressure via the release of gases which can break the tablet into smaller particles decays. Well-known disintegration aids are, for example, carbonate / citric acid systems, although other organic acids can also be used. Swelling disintegration aids are, for example, synthetic polymers such as polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) or natural polymers or modified natural substances such as cellulose and starch and their derivatives, alginates or casein derivatives.

Disintegration aids are preferably used in amounts of from 0.5 to 10% by weight, preferably from 3 to 7% by weight and in particular from 4 to 6% by weight, based in each case on the total weight of the disintegration assistant-containing agent.

Preferred disintegrating agents are cellulosic disintegrating agents, so that preferred washing or cleaning agents comprise such cellulose-based disintegrants in amounts of from 0.5 to 10% by weight, preferably from 3 to 7% by weight and in particular from 4 to 6% by weight. % contain. Pure cellulose has the formal gross composition (C ₆ H ₁₀ O ₅ ) _n and is formally a β-1,4-polyacetal of cellobiose, which in turn is composed of two molecules of glucose. Suitable celluloses consist of about 500 to 5000 glucose units and therefore have average molecular weights of 50,000 to 500,000. Cellulose-based disintegrating agents which can be used in the context of the present invention are also cellulose derivatives obtainable by polymer-analogous reactions of cellulose. Such chemically modified celluloses include, for example, products of esterifications or etherifications in which hydroxy hydrogen atoms have been substituted. Celluloses in which the hydroxy groups have been replaced by functional groups which are not bonded via an oxygen atom can also be used as cellulose derivatives. The group of cellulose derivatives includes, for example, alkali metal celluloses, carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), cellulose esters and ethers, and aminocelluloses. The cellulose derivatives mentioned are preferably not used alone as disintegrating agents based on cellulose, but used in admixture with cellulose. The content of these mixtures of cellulose derivatives is preferably below 50% by weight, particularly preferably below 20% by weight, based on the cellulose-based disintegrating agent. It is particularly preferred to use cellulose-based disintegrating agent which is free of cellulose derivatives.

The cellulose used as a disintegration aid is preferably not used in finely divided form, but converted into a coarser form, for example granulated or compacted, before it is added to the premixes to be tabletted. The particle sizes of such disintegrating agents are usually above 200 μm, preferably at least 90% by weight between 300 and 1600 μm and in particular at least 90% by weight between 400 and 1200 μm.

As a further disintegrating agent based on cellulose or as a component of this component microcrystalline cellulose can be used. This microcrystalline cellulose is obtained by partial hydrolysis of celluloses under conditions which attack and completely dissolve only the amorphous regions (about 30% of the total cellulose mass) of the celluloses, leaving the crystalline regions (about 70%) intact. Subsequent deaggregation of the microfine celluloses produced by the hydrolysis yields the microcrystalline celluloses which have primary particle sizes of about 5 μm and can be compacted, for example, into granules having an average particle size of 200 μm.

Preferred disintegration aids, preferably a disintegration aid based on cellulose, preferably in granular, cogranulated or compacted form, are in the desintegrationsmittelhaltigen Agents in amounts of from 0.5 to 10 wt .-%, preferably from 3 to 7 wt .-% and in particular from 4 to 6 wt .-%, each based on the total weight of the disintegrating agent-containing agent.

Furthermore, according to the invention, gas-evolving effervescent systems can furthermore be used as tablet disintegration auxiliaries. The gas-evolving effervescent system may consist of a single substance that releases a gas upon contact with water. Among these compounds, mention should be made in particular of magnesium peroxide, which liberates oxygen on contact with water. Usually, however, the gas-releasing effervescent system in turn consists of at least two constituents which react with one another to form gas. While a variety of systems are conceivable and executable here, which release, for example, nitrogen, oxygen or hydrogen, the bubble system used in detergents and cleaners can be selected both on the basis of economic and environmental considerations. Preferred effervescent systems consist of alkali metal carbonate and / or bicarbonate and an acidifying agent which is suitable for liberating carbon dioxide from the alkali metal salts in aqueous solution.

Acidifying agents which release carbon dioxide from the alkali metal salts in aqueous solution include, for example, boric acid and alkali metal hydrogen sulfates, alkali metal dihydrogen phosphates and other inorganic salts. However, preference is given to using organic acidifying agents, the citric acid being a particularly preferred acidifying agent. Acidifying agents in the effervescent system from the group of organic di-, tri- and oligocarboxylic acids or mixtures are preferred.

As perfume oils or fragrances can in the present invention, individual fragrance compounds, eg. As the synthetic products of the ester type, ethers, aldehydes, ketones, alcohols and hydrocarbons are used. Preferably, however, mixtures of different fragrances are used, which together produce an attractive fragrance. Such perfume oils may also contain natural fragrance mixtures as are available from vegetable sources, e.g. Pine, citrus, jasmine, patchouly, rose or ylang-ylang oil.

In order to be perceptible, a fragrance must be volatile, whereby besides the nature of the functional groups and the structure of the chemical compound, the molecular weight also plays an important role. For example, most odorants have molecular weights up to about 200 daltons, while molecular weights of 300 daltons and above are more of an exception. Due to the different volatility of fragrances, the smell of a perfume or fragrance composed of several fragrances changes during evaporation, whereby the odor impressions in "top note", "middle note" or "body note" ) and "base note" (end note or dry out). Since odor perception is also largely based on the odor intensity, the top note of a perfume or fragrance does not consist solely of volatile compounds, while the base note consists largely of less volatile, d. H. adherent fragrances. For example, in the composition of perfumes, more volatile fragrances can be bound to certain fixatives, preventing them from evaporating too quickly. In the subsequent classification of the fragrances in "more volatile" or "adherent" fragrances so nothing about the olfactory impression and whether the corresponding fragrance is perceived as a head or middle note, nothing said.

The fragrances can be processed directly, but it can also be advantageous to apply the fragrances on carriers that provide a slower fragrance release for long-lasting fragrance. As such carrier materials, for example, cyclodextrins have been proven, the cyclodextrin-perfume complexes can be additionally coated with other excipients.

dyes

Preferred dyes, the selection of which presents no difficulty for the skilled person, have a high storage stability and insensitivity to the other ingredients of the agents and to light and no pronounced substantivity to the substrates to be treated with the dye-containing agents, such as textiles, glass, ceramics or plastic crockery do not stain them.

When choosing the colorant, it must be taken into account that the colorants have a high storage stability and insensitivity to light. At the same time, it should also be taken into account when choosing suitable colorants that colorants have different stabilities to oxidation. In general, water-insoluble colorants are more stable to oxidation than water-soluble colorants. Depending on the solubility and thus also on the sensitivity to oxidation, the concentration of the Dyes in the detergents or cleaners. In the case of readily water-soluble colorants, colorant concentrations in the range of a few 10 ^-2 to 10 ^-3 % by weight are typically selected. By contrast, in the case of the particularly preferred, but less readily water-soluble, pigment dyes due to their brilliance, the suitable concentration of the colorant in detergents or cleaners is typically about 10 ^-3 to 10 ^-4 % by weight.

Dyeing agents which can be oxidatively destroyed in the washing process and mixtures thereof with suitable blue dyes, so-called blue toners, are preferred. It has proved to be advantageous to use colorants which are soluble in water or at room temperature in liquid organic substances. Suitable examples are anionic colorants, for. B. anionic nitrosofarbstoffe.

In addition to the components described in detail so far, the detergents and cleaners can contain further ingredients which further improve the performance and / or aesthetic properties of these compositions. Preferred agents contain one or more of the group of electrolytes, pH adjusters, fluorescers, hydrotopes, foam inhibitors, silicone oils, anti redeposition agents, optical brighteners, grayness inhibitors, anti-shrinkage agents, anti-crease agents, color transfer inhibitors, antimicrobial agents, germicides, fungicides, antioxidants, antistatic agents, ironing aids , Phobic and impregnating agents, swelling and anti-slip agents and UV absorbers.

As electrolytes from the group of inorganic salts, a wide number of different salts can be used. Preferred cations are the alkali and alkaline earth metals, preferred anions are the halides and sulfates. From a manufacturing point of view, the use of NaCl or MgCl ₂ in the washing or cleaning agents is preferred.

In order to bring the pH of detergents or cleaners into the desired range, the use of pH adjusters may be indicated. Can be used here are all known acids or alkalis, unless their use is not for technical application or environmental reasons or for reasons of consumer protection prohibited. Usually, the amount of these adjusting agents does not exceed 1% by weight of the total formulation.

Suitable foam inhibitors are, inter alia, soaps, oils, fats, paraffins or silicone oils, which may optionally be applied to support materials. Suitable carrier materials are, for example, inorganic salts such as carbonates or sulfates, cellulose derivatives or silicates and mixtures of the abovementioned materials. In the context of the present application preferred agents include paraffins, preferably unbranched paraffins (n-paraffins) and / or silicones, preferably linear-polymeric silicones, which are constructed according to the scheme (R ₂ SiO) _x and are also referred to as silicone oils. These silicone oils usually are clear, colorless, neutral, odorless, hydrophobic liquids having a molecular weight between 1,000 and 150,000, and viscosities between 10 and 1,000,000 mPa · s.

Suitable anti-redeposition agents, which are also referred to as soil repellents, are, for example, nonionic cellulose ethers such as methylcellulose and methylhydroxypropylcellulose with a proportion of methoxy groups of 15 to 30% by weight and of hydroxypropyl groups of 1 to 15% by weight, based in each case on the nonionic cellulose ether as well as the known from the prior art polymers of phthalic acid and / or terephthalic acid or derivatives thereof, in particular polymers of ethylene terephthalates and / or polyethylene glycol terephthalates or anionic and / or nonionic modified derivatives thereof. Especially preferred of these are the sulfonated derivatives of the phthalic and terephthalic acid polymers.

Optical brighteners (so-called "whiteners") can be added to the detergents or cleaners to eliminate graying and yellowing of the treated textiles. These fabrics impinge on the fiber and cause whitening and bleaching by transforming invisible ultraviolet radiation into visible longer wavelength light, emitting the ultraviolet light absorbed from the sunlight as faint bluish fluorescence, and pure with the yellowness of the grayed or yellowed wash White results. Suitable compounds are derived, for example, from the substance classes of 4,4'-diamino-2,2'-stilbenedisulfonic acids (flavonic acids), 4,4'-distyrylbiphenyls, methylumbelliferones, coumarins, dihydroquinolinones, 1,3-diarylpyrazolines, naphthalimides, benzoxazole , Benzisoxazole and benzimidazole systems as well as heterocyclic substituted pyrene derivatives.

Grayness inhibitors have the task of keeping the dirt detached from the fiber suspended in the liquor and thus preventing the dirt from being rebuilt. These are water-soluble Colloids mostly organic nature suitable, for example, the water-soluble salts of polymeric carboxylic acids, glue, gelatin, salts of ether sulfonic acids or cellulose or salts of acidic sulfuric acid esters of cellulose or starch. Also, water-soluble polyamides containing acidic groups are suitable for this purpose. Furthermore, soluble starch preparations and other than the above-mentioned starch products can be used, for. Degraded starch, aldehyde levels, etc. Also, polyvinylpyrrolidone is useful. Also usable as graying inhibitors are cellulose ethers such as carboxymethylcellulose (sodium salt), methylcellulose, hydroxyalkylcellulose and mixed ethers such as methylhydroxyethylcellulose, methylhydroxypropylcellulose, methylcarboxymethylcellulose and mixtures thereof.

Since textile fabrics, in particular of rayon, rayon, cotton and their mixtures, can tend to wrinkle because the individual fibers are sensitive to bending, buckling, pressing and crushing transversely to the fiber direction, synthetic anti-crease agents can be used. These include, for example, synthetic products based on fatty acids, fatty acid esters, fatty acid amides, alkylol esters, -alkylolamides or fatty alcohols, which are usually reacted with ethylene oxide, or products based on lecithin or modified phosphoric acid ester.

Phobic and impregnation processes are used to furnish textiles with substances that prevent the deposition of dirt or facilitate its leaching ability. Preferred repellents and impregnating agents are perfluorinated fatty acids, also in the form of their aluminum u. Zirconium salts, organic silicates, silicones, polyacrylic acid esters with perfluorinated alcohol component or with perfluorinated acyl or sulfonyl radical coupled, polymerizable compounds. Antistatic agents may also be included. The antisoiling equipment with repellents and impregnating agents is often classified as an easy-care finish. The penetration of the impregnating agent in the form of solutions or emulsions of the active substances in question can be facilitated by adding wetting agents which reduce the surface tension. A further field of application of repellents and impregnating agents is the water-repellent finish of textiles, tents, tarpaulins, leather, etc., in which, in contrast to waterproofing, the fabric pores are not closed, so the fabric remains breathable (hydrophobing). The water repellents used for hydrophobizing coat textiles, leather, paper, wood, etc. with a very thin layer of hydrophobic groups, such as longer alkyl chains or siloxane groups. Suitable water repellents are z. As paraffins, waxes, metal soaps, etc. with additions of aluminum or zirconium salts, quaternary ammonium compounds with long-chain alkyl radicals, urea derivatives, fatty acid-modified melamine resins, chromium complex salts, silicones, tin-organic compounds and glutaric dialdehyde as well as perfluorinated compounds. The hydrophobized materials do not feel greasy; nevertheless, similar to greasy substances, water droplets emit from them without moistening. So z. Silicone-impregnated textiles have a soft feel and are water and dirt repellent; Stains from ink, wine, fruit juices and the like are easier to remove.

Antimicrobial agents can be used to combat microorganisms. Depending on the antimicrobial spectrum and mechanism of action, a distinction is made between bacteriostatic agents and bactericides, fungistatics and fungicides, etc. Important substances from these groups are, for example, benzalkonium chlorides, alkylarylsulfonates, halophenols and phenolmercuric acetate, although it is entirely possible to do without these compounds.

To prevent undesirable changes to the detergents and cleaners and / or the treated fabrics caused by exposure to oxygen and other oxidative processes, the compositions may contain anti-oxidants. This class of compounds includes, for example, substituted phenols, hydroquinones, catechols and aromatic amines, as well as organic sulfides, polysulfides, dithiocarbamates, phosphites and phosphonates.

Increased comfort may result from the additional use of antistatic agents. Antistatic agents increase the surface conductivity and thus allow an improved drainage of formed charges. External antistatic agents are generally substances with at least one hydrophilic molecule ligand and give a more or less hygroscopic film on the surfaces. These mostly surface-active antistatic agents can be subdivided into nitrogen-containing (amines, amides, quaternary ammonium compounds), phosphorus-containing (phosphoric acid esters) and sulfur-containing (alkyl sulfonates, alkyl sulfates) antistatic agents. Lauryl (or stearyl) dimethylbenzylammonium chlorides are also suitable as antistatic agents for textiles or as an additive to detergents, wherein additionally a softening effect is achieved.

Silicone derivatives can be used to improve water absorbency, rewettability of the treated fabrics and to facilitate ironing of the treated fabrics. These additionally improve the rinsing out of detergents or cleaning agents by their foam-inhibiting properties. Preferred silicone derivatives are, for example, polydialkyl or alkylaryl siloxanes in which the alkyl groups have one to five carbon atoms and are completely or partially fluorinated. Preferred silicones are polydimethylsiloxanes, which may optionally be derivatized and are then amino-functional or quaternized or have Si-OH, Si-H and / or Si-Cl bonds. Further preferred silicones are the polyalkylene oxide-modified polysiloxanes, ie polysiloxanes which comprise, for example, polyethylene glycols and the polyalkylene oxide-modified dimethylpolysiloxanes.

Finally, according to the invention, it is also possible to use UV absorbers which are absorbed by the treated textiles and improve the light resistance of the fibers. Compounds having these desired properties include, for example, the non-radiative deactivating compounds and derivatives of benzophenone having substituents in the 2- and / or 4-position. Also suitable are substituted benzotriazoles, phenyl-substituted acrylates (cinnamic acid derivatives) in the 3-position, optionally with cyano groups in the 2-position, salicylates, organic Ni complexes and natural substances such as umbelliferone and the body's own urocanic acid.

Protein hydrolyzates are due to their fiber-care effect further in the context of the present invention preferred active substances from the field of detergents and cleaners. Protein hydrolysates are product mixtures obtained by acid, alkaline or enzymatically catalyzed degradation of proteins (proteins). According to the invention, protein hydrolysates of both vegetable and animal origin can be used. Animal protein hydrolysates are, for example, elastin, collagen, keratin, silk and milk protein protein hydrolysates, which may also be present in the form of salts. Preferred according to the invention is the use of protein hydrolysates of plant origin, eg. Soybean, almond, rice, pea, potato and wheat protein hydrolysates. Although the use of the protein hydrolysates is preferred as such, amino acid mixtures or individual amino acids obtained otherwise, such as, for example, arginine, lysine, histidine or pyrroglutamic acid, may also be used in their place. Also possible is the use of derivatives of protein hydrolysates, for example in the form of their fatty acid condensation products.

The following examples further illustrate the invention without, however, limiting it thereto.

Examples

All molecular biology procedures are followed by standard methods such as those described in the Handbook of Fritsch, Sambrook and Maniatis "Molecular Cloning: a Laboratory Manual", Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, New York, 1989, or similar pertinent works. Enzymes and kits were used according to the instructions of the respective manufacturers.

Example 1: Extraction of cell material from soil habitats

Soil samples were taken from various locations in Germany, taken up in water and sedimented by suspended solids for 30 minutes. The supernatant was assayed on 5% agar plates with HSP10 solid medium (0.1 g yeast extract, Difco Co., Heidelberg, 0.1 g casein peptone, tryptic digested, Difco Co., 0.1 g soluble starch (Merck , Order No. 1.01251), 2 g of Na ₂ CO ₃ , 1000 ml of distilled water, pH 10) and cultured at 12 ° C. for approximately 1-2 weeks. The resulting bacterial lawn was mechanically recovered from the agar surface.

Example 2: Generation of expression libraries and primary screening for proteolytic activity

For the preparation and characterization of proteolytically active enzymes from the material of the habitats obtained above, an expression cloning of the DNA obtained from the bacteria obtained according to Example 1 into the gram-negative heterologous host bacterium Escherichia coli was carried out. In the event that native promoter regions of the transformed DNA are not functional in E. coli, ie do not cause expression of the transformed DNA, an expression system which provides an inducible vector-encoded promoter was used. This case was pUC18 (GenBank, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, accession number 108752; 2 ) which possesses an IPTG-inducible E. coli promoter, the β-galactosidase promoter of the lac operon. Thus, in host strains with a lacIq genotype, expression controlled by this promoter can be initiated by the addition of IPTG.

For screening, E. coli strains JM109 and DH12S were found to be useful and advantageous for protease activity screening because of their sufficiently low endogenous proteolytic activity. This had been shown by preliminary experiments with extracts of these vector-transformed host organisms.

The workup of the DNA from the sample obtained according to Example 1 was carried out according to Zhou et al. (1996) Appl. Environ. Microbiol., Vol. 62, pp. 316-322. This purified metagenomic DNA was hydrolyzed with restriction enzymes. In this case, a partial restriction with the restriction enzyme Alu I was preferably carried out to display fragment sizes in the range of 2-10 kb.

For the preparation of preparative amounts of metagenome DNA in the required size, the optimal restriction incubation period was first determined by taking up enzyme kinetics. For this purpose, 2 μg of the DNA preparation in the appropriate reaction buffer offered by the manufacturer of Alu I (New England Biolabs, Schwalbach, Germany, catalog No. R0137S), optionally with the addition of bovine serum albumin (BSA, according to the manufacturer), incubated at 37 ° C. By adding 0.2 units (units) of Alul, the reaction was started at a total volume of 30 μl. Thereafter, 6 μl was removed from the batch at 2 minute intervals and the reaction was stopped by adding 1 × stop buffer (6 × 10 mM Tris, pH 7.0, 20% glycerol, 0.1% SDS) on ice and then on a 0.7% agarose gel analyzed ( 3 ). As a result, the optimal restriction period for a partial digestion was determined individually for each DNA preparation.

The preparative partial digestion was carried out by carrying out the same approach as described above in 30 parallel batches. After stopping the reaction by adding 1 × stop buffer, the batch was electrophoresed on a 0.7% agarose gel, the gel region was excised with DNA of sizes 2-10 kb and this isolated by electroelution in dialysis tubing at 4 ° C. The DNA was finally precipitated with 1/10 volume 3M Na-acetate and 2.5 times volume of ethanol and taken up in an adequate volume. For further separation of any smaller DNA fragments present, gel electrophoresis, electroporation and precipitation were repeated.

The ligation into the plasmid vector pUC18 was carried out overnight at 16 ° C. in a total volume of 15 μl using 150 ng of dephosphorylated vector and 440 ng of the fragmented metagenome DNA thus obtained, and an appropriate amount of T4 DNA ligase (here 400 μg). Units) in 1 × ligase buffer. The vector had previously been linearized with the restriction enzyme Sma I and dephosphorylated with calf thymus alkaline phosphatase.

The transformation of competent E. coli DH12S cells (Gibco Life Technologies, Karlsruhe, catalog number 18312017) was carried out by electro-transformation. For this, 1 ul of ligation mixture and 25 ul cells were mixed, incubated in an electroporation for 1 min on ice and in the electroporator (BTX ECM630 ^®, Genetronics, Inc. San Diego, USA) treated according to manufacturer's instructions. After immediate transfer to 1 ml of SOC medium (2% Bacto-tryptone; 0.5% yeast extract; 10 mM NaCl; 2.5 mM KCl; pH 7.0, adjusted with NaOH; autoclaved; supplemented with 10 mM MgSO ₄ and MgCl ₂ and 20 mM D (+) glucose) followed a recovery period of 1 h at 37 ° C and, as in Example 1, plating on agar plates with HSP10 solid medium.

To examine the quality of the Genbank, the number of total generated primary transformants and the number of insert-carrying clones via blue / white selection were determined in a test plating. For this purpose, 1 and 10 .mu.l of the transformation mixture were plated out on LB medium with ampicillin / IPTG / X-Gal and incubated overnight at 37.degree.

Example 3: Screening for proteolytic activity

To examine the quality of the gene bank prepared according to Example 2 in E. coli DH12S, the number of total primary transformants produced and the number of insert-carrying clones via blue / white selection were determined in a test plating. For this purpose, each 1 and 10 .mu.l of the transformation mixture on 5% agar plates with LB medium (10 g tryptone, 5 g yeast extract, 5 g NaCl, 1 ml 1 N NaOH per I), which in addition with 100 ug / ml ampicillin , 0.2mM (or 4μg / ml) IPTG and 0.2mM (or 1μg / ml) X-gal, plated and incubated overnight at 37 ° C.

To confirm the actual cloned insert sizes, the isolation of the plasmids of selected candidates was carried out via minipreparation (kit from Qiagen, Hilden, Germany) and a suitable restriction digest was used to excise the insert. The obtained fragments were separated on a 0.7% agarose gel. In fact, all vectors contained inserts of about 2 to 10 kb in size ( 4 ).

Screening of the gene banks revealed the ability of individual recombinant E. coli clones in metagenome banks to degrade skim milk. For this purpose, LB agar with 2% Skim Milk (Difco, Order No. 232100) was used, on which clones which are capable of degradation can be identified by clarification farms on the cloudy substrate. Before use, IPTG (0.2 mM) was added to the plates to induce the lac promoter and ampicillin (100 μg / ml) to exert the selection pressure on the transformants.

According to the titer of each bank generated a defined volume of the transformation approach with approximately 10,000 colonies per selection agar plate (14 cm diameter) was evenly plated by means of glass beads (primary plating). To identify positive clones in the cryogenic region, the plates were incubated for up to two weeks at 20 ° C for protease expression and release.

The validation of the plasmid-mediated protease formation was carried out by re-separation of the primary clones and then by isolation, retransformation and re-screening. The resulting transformants showed a re-homing on Skim Milk medium ( 5 ) and thus confirmed the localization of a protease gene on the cloned DNA fragment.

From a protease-positive clone obtained in this way, the plasmid DNA was isolated by standard methods (minipreparation kit from Qiagen GmbH, Hilden, Germany, used according to the manufacturer's instructions), the insert was prepared via Sac I / Hind III digestion and by standard methods sequenced. Initially, the pUC18-compatible primers flanking the insert (M13 forward: 5'-GTAAAACGACGGCCAG-3 ', M13 reverse: 5'-CAGGAAACAGCTATGAC-3') were used to finally obtain the total sequence via so-called primer walking, such as It is known from the prior art (see, for example, RJ Kaiser et al. (1989): "Specific primer-directed DNA sequencing using automated fluorescence detection"; Nucl. Acids Res., 17 (15), pp. 6087-6102). ,

The sequence was amplified by means of polymerase chain reaction (PCR), cloned into the E. coli vector pUC19 and according to the Budapest Treaty at the DSMZ German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures GmbH (Inhoffenstraße 7B, D-38124 Braunschweig) under the number DSM Deposited in 19493.

Sequencing revealed a region with an open reading frame whose DNA sequence is given in SEQ ID NO.3. The deduced amino acid sequence is disclosed as SEQ ID NO.4 and SEQ ID NO.2, respectively. It probably includes the complete preproprotein.

Example 4: Determination of Similarities of the Mature Protease Amino Acid Sequences (SEQ ID NO: 1) with their nearest hits

A homology comparison with the previously known proteases in the "Nonredundant Genbank" (Altschul, Stephan F., Thomas L. Madden, Alejandro A. Schaffer, Jinghui Zhang, Hheng Zhang, Webb Miller, and David J. Lipman (1997): "Gapped BLAST and PSI-BLAST: a new generation of protein database search programs"; Nucleic Acids Res., 25, pp. 3389-3402.). The identity values were (available from InforMax, Inc., Bethesda, USA) determined using the computer program Vector NTI ^® Suite 7.0 with the preset default parameters. The results are summarized in Table 1 below. Table 1: % Identity AAB93489. _mature CA646075.1 _mature (B.sphaericus) SUBT_BACS9 _mature (TA 39) S25835 _mature (TA 41) SEQ ID NO.1 69.5 69.2 70.5 70.1 AAB93489. _mature - 99.0 73.1 72.1 CAB46075.1 _mature - - 73.4 72.7 SUBT_BACS9 _mature - - - 88.3

As already described above, the protease TA 39 was identified as the next-similar enzyme (Genbank entry SUBT_BACS9). The determined identity at the amino acid level is 70.5% based on the mature enzyme according to SEQ ID NO.1. Identity values for the amino acid sequences of the three subsequent database entries which gave the next lower (compared to TA 39) identity values in the homology comparison are also given in Table 1 above.

Description of the figures

1 : Alignment of the protease according to the invention (SEQ ID NO: 1) with proteases from the prior art, calculated using the program Vector NTI Suite Ver.7 (InforMax, Inc. Bethesda, USA) under standard parameters.

SEQ ID NO.1 (mature):

Erfindungsgemäße Protease gemäß SEQ ID NO.1 (reifes Enzym)

SUBT_BACS9:

Protease TA 39 (Genbank-Eintrag SUBT_BACS9)

Blap WT:

Alkalische Protease aus Bacillus lentus DSM 5483 ( WO 92/21760 A1 )

In this mean:

SEQ ID NO.1 (mature):

Protease according to the invention according to SEQ ID NO.1 (mature enzyme)

SUBT_BACS9:

Protease TA 39 (Genbank entry SUBT_BACS9)

Blap WT:

Alkaline protease from Bacillus lentus DSM 5483 ( WO 92/21760 A1 )

2 : Schematic representation of the plasmid vector pUC18 used for the expression libraries (GenBank Acc. 108752). The vector was linearized with SmaI to accept AluI digested metagenomic DNA. ORI: origin of replication; Plac: lac promoter; lacZ-alpha: gene for alpha-peptide of beta-galactosidase; Ampicillin R: beta-lactamase.

3 : Analysis of an AluI restriction kinetics of metagenomic DNA from soil to determine the optimal restriction period at a given enzyme concentration. From 30 μl total batch with 0.1 units (units) AluI per μg DNA, 6 μl each were transferred to 1 × stop buffer after 0, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 min and separated on a 0.7% agarose gel (from left to right Lanes 2-7). Marker (M): 1 kb DNA ladder (in kb from top to bottom: 10; 8; 6; 5; 4; 3.5; 3; 2.5; 2; 1.5; 1). A restriction time of 6-8 min is suitable for the isolation of DNA in the size range of 2-10 kb.

4 : Restriction analysis of nine clones of an expression library with 2-10 kb insert DNA. Restriction was with SacI / HindIII. This excised the insert from the cloning site (multicloning site) of the vector pUC18. The batch was analyzed on a 0.7% agarose gel. Lanes 1-5 and 7-11: RE analysis of 10 clones with DNA inserts of 2-10 kb size lane 6 - marker (M): 1 kb DNA ladder (in kb from top to bottom: 10; 8; 6 ; 5; 4; 3.5; 3; 2.5; 2; 1.5; 1

5 : Activity test for the detection of proteolytic activity in a metagenome expression library. Agarose nutrient medium with 2% skim milk has a clarification center around the corresponding colony in the presence of a heterologously expressed protease. Shown is the plating of a transformation approach after isolation of the plasmid of a positive Primarklons and subsequent retransformation (activity control).

This is followed by a sequence protocol according to WIPO St. 25. This can be downloaded from the official publication platform of the DPMA.

Claims (29)

A protease comprising an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of a) amino acid sequence corresponding to that shown in SEQ ID NO. 1 amino acid sequence is identical to at least 70.6% identical b) Amino acid sequence corresponding to that shown in SEQ ID NO. 2 amino acid sequence is identical to at least 67.5% identical. A protease according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of a) amino acid sequence corresponding to the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO. 1 amino acid sequence increasingly preferably at least 72.5%, 75%, 77.5%, 80%, 82.5%, 85%, 87.5%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94% , 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99%, and most preferably 100% identical. b) Amino acid sequence corresponding to that shown in SEQ ID NO. 2, more preferably at least 70%, 72.5%, 75%, 77.5%, 80%, 82.5%, 85%, 87.5%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93% , 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99%, and most preferably 100% identical. A protease according to any one of claims 1 or 2 which is naturally present in an organism isolable from a natural habitat. A protease according to claim 3, which is a microorganism, preferably a fungus, a Gram-negative or a Gram-positive bacterium, and particularly preferably one of the genus Bacillus. Protease, characterized in that it is obtainable from a protease according to any one of claims 1 to 4 as the starting molecule and has one or more amino acid substitutions in positions corresponding to the positions 3, 4, 36, 42, 47, 56, 61, 69, 87 , 96, 99, 101, 102, 104, 114, 118, 120, 130, 139, 141, 142, 154, 157, 188, 193, 199, 205, 211, 224, 229, 236, 237, 242, 243 , 255 and 268 of the Bacillus lentus alkaline protease according to SEQ ID NO. 5 in an alignment. Protease according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that it is additionally stabilized, preferably by covalent coupling to a polymer. Nucleic acid molecule encoding a protease according to any one of claims 1 to 6. Nucleic acid molecule according to claim 7, characterized in that it comprises a nucleic acid sequence which is selected from the group consisting of a) nucleic acid sequence corresponding to the nucleic acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO.3 in a portion of at least 300 contiguous nucleotides at least 72.5 % is identical b) nucleic acid sequence which is at least 70.6% identical to the nucleic acid sequence indicated in SEQ ID NO.3 at positions 364 to 1290. c) nucleic acid sequence which corresponds to the nucleic acid sequence indicated in SEQ ID NO Length is at least 59.5% identical. Agent, characterized in that it contains at least one polypeptide according to one of claims 1 to 8. Agent according to claim 9, characterized in that it comprises a detergent, hand washing detergent, dishwashing detergent, hand dishwashing detergent, machine dishwashing detergent, cleaning agent, denture or contact lens care agent, rinse aid, disinfectant, cosmetic agent, pharmaceutical agent or a means for treating filter media, textiles, furs, paper , Skins or leather, is. Composition according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that it is a laundry detergent or a dishwashing detergent. Agent according to one of claims 9 to 11, characterized in that it is present as a one-component system. Agent according to one of claims 9 to 11, characterized in that it is divided into several components. Agent according to one of claims 9 to 13, characterized in that it contains the protease in an amount of from 2 μg to 20 mg, preferably from 5 μg to 17.5 mg, more preferably from 20 μg to 15 mg and most preferably from 50 μg to 10 mg per g of the agent. Agent according to one of claims 9 to 14, characterized in that it is in solid form. Composition according to claim 15, characterized in that it is present as free-flowing powder having a bulk density of 300 g / l to 1200 g / l, in particular 500 g / l to 900 g / l. Agent according to one of claims 9 to 14, characterized in that it is in pasty or liquid form. Agent according to one of claims 9 to 17, characterized in that the protease is coated with a substance which is impermeable to the protease at room temperature or in the absence of water. A composition according to any one of claims 9 to 18, further comprising one or more further enzymes. Composition according to claim 19, characterized in that at least one further enzyme is a protease, amylase, cellulase, hemicellulase, mannanase, tannase, xylanase, xanthanase, β-glucosidase, carrageenase, oxidase, oxidoreductase or a lipase. Composition according to one of claims 9 to 20, characterized in that it contains at least one further component selected from the group consisting of surfactants, builders, acids, alkalis, hydrotropes, solvents, thickeners, bleaching agents, dyes, perfumes, corrosion inhibitors, sequestering agents , Electrolytes, optical brighteners, grayness inhibitors, silver corrosion inhibitors, color transfer inhibitors, foam inhibitors, abrasives, UV absorbers, solvents, antistatic agents, pearlescers and skin protection agents. The agent of any one of claims 9 to 21, further comprising - 5 wt .-% to 70 wt .-%, in particular 5 wt .-% to 30 wt .-% of surfactants and / or From 10% by weight to 65% by weight, in particular from 12% by weight to 60% by weight, of water-soluble or water-dispersible inorganic builder material and / or From 0.5% by weight to 10% by weight, in particular from 1% by weight to 8% by weight, of water-soluble organic builders and / or 0.01 to 15% by weight of solid inorganic and / or organic acids or acid salts and / or 0.01 to 5% by weight complexing agent for heavy metals and / or 0.01 to 5% by weight of grayness inhibitor and / or 0.01 to 5% by weight of color transfer inhibitor and / or - 0.01 to 5 wt .-% foam inhibitor The agent of claim 22, further comprising from 0.01 to 5% by weight of optical brightener. Use of a composition according to any one of claims 9 to 23 for the removal of protease-sensitive stains on textiles or hard surfaces. A method for cleaning textiles or hard surfaces, characterized in that in at least one method step, an agent according to any one of claims 9 to 23 is applied. Process for the purification of textiles or hard surfaces, characterized in that in at least one process step a protease according to any one of claims 1 to 6 is proteolytically active. A method according to claim 26, characterized in that the protease is used in an amount of 40 μg to 4 g, preferably from 50 μg to 3 g, more preferably from 100 μg to 2 g and most preferably from 200 μg to 1 g per application is. Use of a protease according to any one of claims 1 to 6 for cleaning textiles or hard surfaces. Use of a protease according to claim 28, wherein the protease is used in an amount of from 40 μg to 4 g, preferably from 50 μg to 3 g, more preferably from 100 μg to 2 g and most preferably from 200 μg to 1 g per application ,

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