Pectate lyases

An isolated polynucleotide molecule encoding a polypeptide having pectate lyase activity selected from the group consisting of:

• a) polynucleotide molecules comprising a nucleotide sequence as shown in SEQ ID NO:
• 1 from nucleotide 1 to nucleotide 1026;
• b) polynucleotide molecules that encode a polypeptide having at least 95% identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:
• 2 from amino acid residue 1 to amino acid residue 341, wherein said identity is determined by the GAP program, using a GAP creation peialty of 3.0 and a GAP extension penalty of 0.1;
• and
• c) polynucleotide molecules encoding a pectate lyase, wherein said polynucleotide molecules hybridize to the DNA sequence of SEQ ID NO:
• 1 under high stringency conditions, wherein said high stringency conditions comprise hybridization in 5×SSC at 45° C. and washing in 2×SSC at 70° C.