A selective inactivating enzyme for the m-subunit of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) was found in the culture filtrate of Penicillium citrinum KE-1, newly isolated from soil. The enzyme was purified from the culture filtrate by ammonium sulfate fractionation, column chromatography on CM-Sepharose CL-6B, and gel filtration on Sephadex G-100. The purification was 124-fold with an activity yield of 81%. The purified enzyme gave a single band, corresponding to a molecular weight of 32,000, on SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and the isoelectric point was 9.5. The enzyme specifically inactivated the m-subunit of LDH but showed no activity on the h-subunit of LDH. The enzyme, named KE-1 proteinase, proved to be a serine-type proteinase. Limited proteolysis of native m-subunit of LDH was assumed to result in a loss of enzyme activity.