Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 22, 2026

Production and Visualization of Bacterial Spheroplasts and Protoplasts to Characterize Antimicrobial Peptide Localization
Published on: August 11, 2018
The cationic peptide magainin II is antimicrobial for Burkholderia cepacia-complex strains
Joanne E Thwaite1, Suzanne Humphrey1, Marc A Fox1
1Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, Porton Down, Salisbury SP4 0JQ, UK.
Abstract:
This study was undertaken to determine the antibacterial activity of eight cationic antimicrobial peptides towards strains of genomovars I-V of the Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc) in time-kill assays. All but one of the peptides failed to show activity against the panel of test strains. The exception was magainin II, a 23 aa peptide isolated from the epidermis of the African clawed frog, Xenopus laevis, which exhibited significant bactericidal activity for Bcc genomovars most frequently associated with lung infection of patients with cystic fibrosis. In vitro studies indicated that magainin II protected a human bronchial epithelial cell line (BEAS-2B) from killing by Bcc and suggest that this peptide may have therapeutic potential against these organisms.
Related Concept Videos
Antimicrobial Proteins
Interferons
Interferons (IFNs) are proteins produced by lymphocytes, macrophages, and fibroblasts infected with viruses. While IFNs cannot prevent viruses from entering and...
Inhibitors of Gram-positive Cell Wall Synthesis
Antifungal Agents
Inhibitors of Bacterial Protein Synthesis
Clinical Significance of Antibiotic Resistance
Antimicrobial Effectiveness

