A teichoic acid degrading enzyme (tiechoicase) was purified to apparent homogeneity from a water-soluble cell extract of sporulating Bacillus subtilis cells. A rapid test for the detection of teichoicase activity was developed. The purified teichoicase has an app. M r = 310 000. It consists of 4 identical subunits of M r = 78 000 each.
