Antimicrobial Activity and Toxicity of Analogs of Wasp Venom EMP Peptides. Potential Influence of Oxidized Methionine.

The antibiotic and toxic properties for four synthetic analogs of eumenine mastoparan peptides (EMP) have been tested. These properties were compared to two natural peptides found in the venom of solitary wasps (natural peptide EMP-AF) and (natural peptide EMP-ER), respectively. Only EMP-AF-OR showed concentration-dependent growth inhibition against all bacterial species tested.