Abstract
Treatment of infections caused by pathogenic bacteria is still harder. Due to increasing number of microbial species resistant against so far invented antibiotics. This presents great problem for public health. One of the potential solutions seems to be antimicrobial peptides. Those peptides are synthetized in all organisms as a part of innate immunity with rapid mode of antimicrobial action. Lot of them have been isolated from bacteria, plants, insects and mammals as well. Our project was aimed on finding such peptides in plant extracts, respectively in leaves of Brassica napus (canola), Solanum lycopersicum (tomato) and Tetragonia tetragonioides (New Zealand spinach). We used several separation techniques to obtain fractions containing compounds of peptide nature with hydrophobic character. Antimicrobial activity of these fractions was tested against several gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Mass spectrometry analysis of antimicrobial active fractions proved presence of low molecular peptides with molecular masses 1.9 - 4.9 kDa and a partial amino acid sequence in hydrophobic part of Tetragonia extract. In hydrophilic fraction of the Solanum extract with proved antibacterial activity two patogenesis-related proteins with antifungal activity NP24 and TPM-1 were detected.
Highlights
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are widely distributed among all organisms as a part of innate immunity
Antimicrobial peptides could replace some of the common antibiotics used in human and veterinary medicine, the most probably those used in curing topical infections
The ratio of the peptides/protein content in hydrophobic and hydrophilic portion differ at each plant; the yields are summarized in table 2
Summary
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are widely distributed among all organisms as a part of innate immunity. These peptides show broad spectrum of activity. Plants, invertebrates and vertebrates including mammals produce them as a part of their first line of immune defence. Overloading of antibiotic drugs in human and veterinary medicine led to emergence of the resistant food-borne pathogens and pathogens causing various nosocomial infections during last years. Biopesticides do not persist because they could be decomposed by natural enzymes It is known, that plants produce such compounds for self-protection. These peptides are active mainly against bacteria and fungi. There already exist some crops with ability of resistace , better taste, nutrition value, bigger yields and storing (Gust et al, 2010)
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