An extracellular cold-active alkaline serine protease from Penicillium chrysogenum FS010 has been purified. The purification procedure involved: ammonium sulfate precipitation, DEAE ion-exchange chromatography and sephadex G-100 gel chromatography. SDS-PAGE of the purified enzyme indicated a molecular weight of 41,000 +/- 1,000 Da. The protease is stable in a pH range of 7.0-9.0 and has a maximum activity at pH 9.0. Compared with other industrial proteases, the enzyme shows a high hydrolytic activities at lower temperatures and a high sensitivity at a temperature over 50 degrees C. The isoelectric point of the enzyme is approximate to 6.0. Enzymatic activity is enhanced by the addition of divalent cations such as Mg(2+) and Ca(2+) and inhibited by addition of Cu(2+)and Co(2+). PMSF and DFP are its specific inhibitors. The application of the cold-active alkaline protease is extremely extensive, and widely used in detergents, feed, food, leather and many other industries.