NOVELTY - A polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 76% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO. 11, or at least 73% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO. 12, or its fragment or variant having ferulic esterase activity, is new.    USE - The polypeptide and enzyme preparation are useful for treating cellulosic or lignocellulosic material; for improving fabric care properties or textile cleaning effect of a detergent composition; for processing biomass, and in biofuel, starch, textile, detergent, pulp and paper, food, baking, feed or beverage industry; for cleaning the interior of a dishwashing machine; in baking for improving the dough and bread characteristics; and in feed for improving the animal growth rate and feed conversion ratio. The polypeptide and enzyme preparation are used in a detergent composition and animal feed (all claimed).    ADVANTAGE - New efficient methods of degrading cellulosic substrates, in particular lignocellulosic substrates, and for inexpensive enzymes and enzyme mixtures, which can considerably improve the enzymatic degradation of cellulosic material and also reduce the required enzyme dosage, are provided. These processes work not only at moderate temperatures but also at high temperatures, thus increasing the reaction rates and enabling the use of high biomass consistency leading to high sugar and ethanol concentrations. The enzymes and processes can be used in a variety of agricultural and industrial applications and allow the design of more flexible process configurations.    DETAILED DESCRIPTION - INDEPENDENT CLAIMS are: (1) an isolated polynucleotide selected from (i) a polynucleotide comprising the coding sequence of SEQ ID NO. 9 or 10, (ii) a polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide above, (iii) a polynucleotide encoding a fragment of a polypeptide encoded by a polynucleotide of (i) or (ii), where the fragment has ferulic esterase activity, and (iv) a polynucleotide comprising a nucleotide sequence which is degenerate to the nucleotide sequence of a polynucleotide sequence of (i) or (iii); or the complementary strand of such a polynucleotide; (2) a vector comprising a polynucleotide of (1) linked to regulatory sequences capable of directing expression of the polypeptide above; (3) a host cell comprising the vector of (2); (4) an Escherichia coli strain having accession number DSM 26070 or DSM 26071; (5) a method of producing a polypeptide above; (6) an enzyme preparation comprising the polypeptide above; (7) a method for treating cellulosic or lignocellulosic material by reacting the cellulosic or lignocellulosic material with a polypeptide or an enzyme preparation above; (8) a detergent composition comprising the polypeptide or an enzyme preparation above; (9) a method for improving fabric care properties or textile cleaning effect of a detergent composition by adding a polypeptide or enzyme preparation above to the detergent composition; and (10) an animal feed comprising the polypeptide or an enzyme preparation above.