Although virulence factors from pathogenic bacteria have been proposed as promising industrial enzymes, characterization and application of these enzymes have been still unexplored. The objective of this study was to identify and characterize virulence factors from pathogenic bacteria for industrial applications. Here, a virulence factor (EfEstA) from Entero coccus faecalis was identified and characterized using SDS-PAGE, enzyme assays, and molecular modeling. In addition, it has been shown that crosslinked enzyme aggregates (CLEAs) of EfEstA exhibited improved stabilities and high recycling activities compared to free EfEstA. These characteristics of EfEstA shed light on the design of new lipase-based systems for industrial applications. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.