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Antimicrobial Peptides Produced by Selective Pressure Incorporation of Non-canonical Amino Acids
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Antimicrobial Peptides Produced by Selective Pressure Incorporation of Non-canonical Amino Acids

Published on: May 4, 2018

Functional divergence among silkworm antimicrobial peptide paralogs by the activities of recombinant proteins and the

Wanying Yang1, Tingcai Cheng, Mingqiang Ye

  • 1Laboratory of Insect Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Agro-animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China.

Plos One
|April 12, 2011
PubMed

Insights

Antimicrobial peptide gene families, like cecropin and moricin, show significant functional differences among paralogs due to rapid evolution. The gloverin family, however, maintains similar functions and evolves slowly, suggesting distinct roles in immunity.

Area of Science:

  • * Molecular Biology
  • * Immunology
  • * Evolutionary Biology

Background:

  • * Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are vital for innate immunity, encoded by gene families.
  • * Functional divergence within AMP gene families is poorly understood.
  • * Cecropin, moricin, and gloverin families are key AMPs in insects.

Purpose of the Study:

  • * Investigate functional divergence among paralogs of cecropin, moricin, and gloverin AMP families.
  • * Analyze evolutionary rates and antimicrobial activity of AMP paralogs.
  • * Examine the relationship between gene expression and antimicrobial function.

Main Methods:

  • * Recombinant expression of 14 AMP paralogs using pET systems.
  • * Antimicrobial activity assays against 10 bacterial species.
  • * Measurement of gene expression levels upon microbial infection in silkworm pupae.

Main Results:

  • * Cecropin and moricin paralogs exhibited distinct antimicrobial activities and rapid evolutionary rates, indicating functional divergence.
  • * Gloverin paralogs showed conserved antimicrobial functions and slow evolutionary rates.
  • * Genes for active AMPs were upregulated differently upon microbial challenge, with cecropin and moricin showing a positive correlation between activity and expression.

Conclusions:

  • * Functional divergence is evident in cecropin and moricin AMP families, driven by rapid evolution.
  • * The gloverin family displays conserved function and slower evolution.
  • * Specific AMPs (BmcecB6, BmcecD, Bmmor) are key effectors with broad activity, high expression, and significant roles in combating infections.

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