The alyPEEC gene encoding alginate lyase from marine bacterium Pseudoalteromonas elyakovii IAM 14594 was subcloned into pBAD24 with arabinose promoter and sequenced, and overexpressed in TOP10 strain of E. coli after arabinose induction. Expression levels of alyPEEC gene in E. coli cells were over 39.6-fold higher than those in P. elyakovii IAM 14594 cells. The molecular mass of purified alginate lyase from the engineered E. coli cells was estimated to be 32.0 kDa. Optimum pH and temperature of the alginate lyase activity were 7.0 and 30 °C, respectively. The enzyme was unstable on heating and in acidic and alkaline solution. The enzyme activity was stimulated by the MgCl2, NaCl, KCl, CaCl2, BaCl2 and MnCl2, but was inhibited by the addition of 1.0 mM of EGTA, EDTA, SDS, ZnSO4, AgNO3, and CoCl2. All the alginate, polyM and polyG could be converted into oligosaccharides with more than tetrasaccharides by the purified recombinant alginate lyase, suggesting that the recombinant alginate lyase produced by the engineered E. coli has highly potential application in seaweed genetics, food and pharmaceutical industries.