METHOD OF IMPROVING CARBOHYDRATE DIGESTIBILITY BY A CARBOHYDRATASE IN AN ANIMAL FEED BY EMPLOYING SERINE PROTEASE

1 . A method for boosting the activity of a carbohydrase in an animal feed comprising adding to the animal feed one or more proteolytic enzymes, i.e., proteases, wherein the protease is a serine protease, preferably an acid stable serine protease or a S8 protease and wherein the carbohydrase is selected from the group consisting of hemicellulase, pectinase, glucanase, amylase, xylanase, maltase and mixture thereof.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the acid-stable protease is selected from the group consisting of

a. proteases derived from Nocardiopsis sp. NRRL 18262, and Nocardiopsis alba;

b. proteases of at least 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90, or at least 95% amino acid identity to any of the proteases of (i);

c. proteases of at least 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90, or at least 95% identity to any of SEQ ID NO: 1, and/or SEQ ID NO: 2.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the protease is defined by polypeptides having S8 protease activity selected from the list consisting of:

a. a polypeptide having a sequence identity of at least 70% to any one of SEQ ID NOs 3-6;

b. a variant of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 3-6, wherein the variant has protease activity and comprises one or more substitutions, and/or one or more deletions, and/or one or more insertions or any combination thereof in 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49 or 50 positions;

c. a polypeptide comprising the polypeptide of (a′) or (b′) and a N-terminal and/or C-terminal His-tag and/or HQ-tag;

d. a polypeptide comprising the polypeptide of (a′) or (b′) and a N-terminal and/or C-terminal extension of up to 10 amino acids, e.g. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10 amino acids; and

e. a fragment of the polypeptide of (a′) or (b′) having protease activity and having at least 90% of the length of the mature polypeptide

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the protease is provided in a dosage of between 1,000 units/kg animal feed and 1,000,000 units/kg animal feed, for example in one of the following amounts (dosage ranges): 1,000, 2,000, 4,000, 6,000, 8,000, 10,000, 15,000, 20,000, 30,000, 50,000, 80,000, 100,000, 150,000, 200,000, 250,000, 300,000, 500,000, 600,000, 800,000, 1,000,000 units/kg animal feed.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the carbohydrase is provided in a dosage of between 10 units/kg animal feed and 5,000 units/kg animal feed, for example in one of the following amounts: 10, 20, 40, 50, 60, 80, 100, 200, 500, 800, 1,000, 2,000, 3,000, 4,000 and 5,000 units/kg animal feed.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the animal feed contains carbohydrates selected from the group consisting of arabinoxylan, starch and/or non-starch polysaccharide (NSP) such as fibre, cellulose, hemicellulose and pectin, or mixture thereof.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the carbohydrate is in forms of concentrates such as soy-bean meal, corn, wheat, wheat middlings, oats, rye, barley and sorghum; and/or roughages such as hay and pasture plants, or mixture thereof.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the animal feed is an animal diet based on soy-bean meal, corn and/or wheat.

9 . A method for boosting the activity of a carbohydrase in an animal feed comprising adding to the animal feed one or more proteolytic enzymes, i.e., proteases, wherein:

a) the protease is an acid stable serine protease, and more preferably a S8 protease, in a dosage of between 10,000 units/kg feed and 30,000 units/kg feed;

b) the carbohydrase is hemicellulase, pectinase, amylase, xylanase or mixture thereof;

c) the animal feed is an animal diet based on soy-bean meal, corn and/or wheat; and

d) optionally the activity of the carbohydrase is increased by 5% or more.

10 . A method for improving hydrolyzation of a carbohydrate in an animal feed comprising adding to the animal feed one or more proteolytic enzymes, i.e., proteases, and a carbohydrase.

11 . A method for improving digestibility of a carbohydrate in an animal comprising administering to the animal one or more proteolytic enzymes, i.e., proteases, and a carbohydrase in an animal feed.

12 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the proteases are a serine protease, preferably an acid stable serine protease, and more preferably a S8 protease.

13 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the carbohydrase is selected from the group consisting of hemicellulase, pectinase, glucanase, amylase, xylanase, maltase and mixture thereof.

14 . A feed composition comprising one or more proteases and one or more carbohydrases, wherein the protease is a serine protease or a S8 protease and wherein the carbohydrase is selected from the group consisting of hemicellulase, pectinase, glucanase, amylase, xylanase, maltase and mixture thereof and wherein

a. the acid-stable protease is selected from the group consisting of

i. proteases derived from Nocardiopsis sp. NRRL 18262, and Nocardiopsis alba;

ii. proteases of at least 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90, or at least 95% amino acid identity to any of the proteases of (i);

iii. proteases of at least 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90, or at least 95% identity to any of SEQ ID NO: 1, and/or SEQ ID NO: 2; or

b. the protease is defined by polypeptides having S8 protease activity selected from the list consisting of:

i. a polypeptide having a sequence identity of at least 70% to any one of SEQ ID Nos: 3-6;

ii. a variant of any one of SEQ ID NOs: 3-6, wherein the variant has protease activity and comprises one or more substitutions, and/or one or more deletions, and/or one or more insertions or any combination thereof in 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49 or 50 positions;

iii. a polypeptide comprising the polypeptide of (a′) or (b′) and a N-terminal and/or C-terminal His-tag and/or HQ-tag;

iv. a polypeptide comprising the polypeptide of (a′) or (b′) and a N-terminal and/or C-terminal extension of up to 10 amino acids, e.g. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10 amino acids; and

v. a fragment of the polypeptide of (a′) or (b′) having protease activity and having at least 90% of the length of the mature polypeptide.