NMR structures and mutational analysis of the two peptides constituting the bacteriocin plantaricin S

The structure of the individual peptides of the two-peptide bacteriocin plantaricin S, an antimicrobial peptide produced by a Lactobacillus plantarum strain, has been determined in DPC micelles. The two peptides of plantaricin S, Pls-α and Pls-β, form an α-helix from and including residue 8 to 24 with a less structured region around residue 16-19 and an amphiphilic α-helix from and including residue 7 to 23, respectively. Activity assays on single amino acid-substituted GxxxG and GxxxG-like motifs show that substituting the Ser and Gly residues in the G₉xxxG₁₃ motif in Pls-α and the S₁₇xxxG₂₁ motif in Pls-β reduced or drastically reduced the antimicrobial activity. The two-peptide bacteriocin muricidin contains GxxxG-like motifs at similar positions and displays 40-50% amino acid identity with plantaricin S. Activity assays of combinations of the peptides that constitute the bacteriocins plantaricin S and muricidin show that some combinations are highly active. Furthermore, sequence alignments show that the motifs important for plantaricin S activity align with identical motifs in muricidin. Based on sequence comparison and activity assays, a membrane-inserted model of plantaricin S in which the two peptides are oriented antiparallel relative to each other and where the GxxxG and GxxxG-like motifs important for activity come close in space, is proposed.