In the genome sequence of Aspergillus niger CBS 513.88, three genes were identified with high similarity to fungal ␣-amylases. The protein sequences derived from these genes were different in two ways from all described fungal ␣-amylases: they were predicted to be glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchored, and some highly conserved amino acids of enzymes in the ␣-amylase family were absent. We expressed two of these enzymes in a suitable A. niger strain and characterized the purified proteins. Both enzymes showed transglycosylation activity on donor substrates with ␣- ( Aspergillus niger is a filamentous ascomycete fungus with a worldwide distribution. As a saprophyte, the fungus produces and secretes a large variety of extracellular enzymes, especially proteases and polysaccharide hydrolases to convert plant cell walls and storage compounds into growth substrates (see, e.g., references 19 and 44). This quality is exploited for the production of enzymes for the food and feed industry on a large scale. Recently, the full genome sequence of A. niger CBS 513.88 was determined and annotated (55). A high level of synteny was observed between A. niger and other sequenced aspergilli, although more extracellular hydrolytic enzymes were annotated for A. niger. A detailed full genome search showed the presence of a considerable number of previously unknown, predicted enzymes belonging to the ␣-amylase superfamily.The ␣-amylase superfamily (38) comprises a large variety of enzymes that are active towards polysaccharides with ␣-glycosidic linkages, such as starch and glycogen (42). Most members of this family are involved in either production of storage compounds, such as glycogen or starch, or degradation of these compounds as extracellular carbon and energy sources. The tertiary structure of these enzymes is characterized by a (/␣) 8 barrel containing four highly conserved amino acid regions that form the catalytic site (42) (see also the CAZy website at