Marine multicellular algae are considered promising crops for the production of sustainable biofuels and commodity chemicals. Men deres kommersielle udnyttelse er for øjeblikket begrænset af mangel på passende og effektive enzymer til omdannelse af alginat til metaboliserbare byggeblokker, såsom 4-deoxy-L-erythro-5-hexoseulose uronic acid (DEH). Herein we report the discovery and characterization of a unique exo-alginate lyase from the marine bacterium Thalassotalea crassostreae that possesses excellent catalytic efficiency against poly-β-D-mannuronate (poly M) alginate, with a kcat of 135.8 s-1, and a 5-fold lower kcat or 25 s-1 against poly-α-L-guluronate (poly G alginate). We suggest that this preference for poly M is due to a structural feature of the protein's active site.