The Staphylococcus hyicus lipase gene has been cloned and expressed in Staphylococcus carnosus. From the latter organism the enzyme was secreted into the medium as a protein with an apparent molecular mass of 86 kDa. This protein was purified, and the amino-terminal sequence showed that the primary gene product was indeed cleaved at the proposed signal peptide cleavage site. The protein was purified from large-scale preparations after tryptic digestion. This limited proteolysis reduced the molecular mass to 46 kDa and increased the specific activity about 3-fold. Although the enzyme had a low specific activity in the absence of divalent cations, the activity increased about 40-fold in the presence of Sr2+ or Ca2+ ions. The purified lipase has a broad substrate specificity. The acyl chains were removed from the primary and secondary positions of natural neutral glycerides and from a variety of synthetic glyceride analogues. Thus triglycerides were fully hydrolyzed to free fatty acid and glycerol. The enzyme hydrolyzed naturally occurring phosphatidylcholines, their synthetic short-chain analogues, and lysophospholipids to free fatty acids and water-soluble products. The enzyme had a 2-fold higher activity on micelles of short-chain D-lecithins than on micelles composed of the L-isomers. Thus the enzyme from S. hyicus has lipase activity and also high phospholipase A and lysophospholipase activity.