We have previously used Tn917 for the identification and characterization of regulated promoters from Lactococcus lactis [Israelsen et al., Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 61 (1995) 2540-2547]. We describe here the construction of a new Tn917-transposon derivative, termed TnNuc, which includes the Staphylococcus aureus nuclease gene (nuc) as a reporter for secretion. Transposition of TnNuc into the L. lactis chromosome allows the generation of fusions in-frame with the nuc gene. TnNuc includes also lacZ, a reporter used for identification of relevant clones from the library, i.e. clones with Lac+ phenotype result from transposition of TnNuc into a functional gene on the L. lactis chromosome. The presence of a functional signal sequence at the upstream flanking region of the left repeat of the transposed element results in the detection of nuclease activity using a sensitive plate assay. TnNuc was used for the identification of novel secretion signals from L. lactis. The sequences identified included known and unknown lactococcal-secreted proteins containing either a signal peptidase-I or -II recognition sequence. In one case, the gene identified codes for a transmembrane protein. The sequences identified were used to study functionality when located in a plasmid under the control of the pH and growth phase-dependent promoter P170 [Madsen et al., Mol. Microbiol. 32 (1999) 75-87]. In all cases, concurrent secretion of nuclease was observed during induction of P170 in a fermentor.