An abundantly secreted thermostable peptide (designed AcAFP) with a molecular mass of 5777 Da was isolated and purified in a previous work from a local strain of A. clavatus (VR1). Based on the N-terminal amino acid (aa) sequence of the AcAFP peptide, an oligonucleotide probe was derived and allowed the amplification of the encoding cDNA by RT-PCR. This cDNA fragment encodes a pre-pro-protein of 94 aa which appears to be processed to a mature product of 51 aa cys-rich protein. The deduced aa sequence of the pre-pro-sequence reveals high similarity with ascomycetes antifungal peptide. Comparison of the nucleotide sequence of the genomic fragment and the cDNA clone revealed the presence of an open reading frame of 282 bp interrupted by two small introns of 89 and 56 bp with conserved splice site. The three-dimensional (3D) structure modeling of AcAFP exhibits a compact structure consisting of five anti-parallel beta barrel stabilized by four internal disulfide bridges. The folding pattern revealed also a cationic site and spatially adjacent hydrophobic stretch. The antifungal mechanism was investigated by transmission and confocal microscopy. AcAFP cause cell wall altering in a dose-dependent manner against the phytopathogenic fungus Fusarium oxysporum.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.peptides.2009.06.034 | DOI Listing |
Inflamm Res
January 2025
Institute of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Biomedical Research Institute, Seoul National University Hospital, 101 Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, 110-744, Republic of Korea.
Particulate matter (PM) exposure has been proposed as one of the causes of steroid resistance. However, studies investigating this using patient samples or animals are still lacking. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to investigate the changes in cytokines and mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin) activation in patients with steroid resistant asthma and the role of mTOR in a mouse model of steroid resistant asthma induced by PM.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFood Chem
December 2024
Institute of Nutrition and Functional Foods (INAF), Université Laval, Quebec City, QC G1V 0A6, Canada; Laboratoire de Transformation Alimentaire et Procédés ÉlectroMembranaires (LTAPEM, Laboratory of Food Processing and Electro-Membrane Processes), Food Science Department, Université Laval, Quebec City, QC G1V 0A6, Canada. Electronic address:
There is a growing interest in natural preservatives driven by consumer demand for clean-label products. In Canada, approximately 48 million liters of blood are produced annually during chicken slaughter, offering an opportunity to valorize cruor, the solid blood component rich in hemoglobin, for use in food preservation. This study investigated the hydrolysis of chicken cruor with pepsin at pH 2, 3, 4, and 5 for 180 min to produce antimicrobial peptides.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMycoses
January 2025
Clinical Microbiology Laboratory, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán, Mexico City, Mexico.
Background: Accurate identification of Fusarium species requires molecular identification. Treating fusariosis is challenging due to widespread antifungal resistance, high rates of treatment failure, and insufficient information relating antifungal susceptibility to the clinical outcome. Despite recent outbreaks in Mexico, there is limited information on epidemiology and antifungal susceptibility testing (AST).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFoods
December 2024
Department of Food Science, Université Laval, Québec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada.
Porcine blood, a significant byproduct of the pork industry, represents a potential source of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). AMPs offer a promising alternative to chemical antimicrobials, which can be used as natural preservatives in the food industry. AMPs can exhibit both antibacterial and/or antifungal properties, thus improving food safety and addressing the growing concern of antibiotic and antifungal resistance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPlants (Basel)
January 2025
Biotechnology and Plant Improvement Laboratory, Centre of Biotechnology of Sfax, University of Sfax, P.O. Box 1177, Sfax 3018, Tunisia.
Plants are frequently challenged by a variety of microorganisms. To protect themselves against harmful invaders, they have evolved highly effective defense mechanisms, including the synthesis of numerous types of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). Snakins are such compounds, encoded by the (Gibberellic Acid-Stimulated Arabidopsis) gene family, and are involved in the response to biotic and abiotic stress.
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