A novel protease which cleaves the C-terminus of the glutamic acid residue in the amino acid sequence of a polypeptide originating in Streptomyces fradiae, and a process for obtaining the protease from this bacterium. The invention has clarified the properties of this protease and also a DNA sequence coding for this protease and prepropeptides. The protease is specific for glutamic acid and is utilizable for various purposes, such as protein analysis and the cleavage of peptide chains at the desired site of a fused protein.