Antimicrobial Peptides from Plants

TLDR: All antimicrobial peptides studied thus far appear to exert their antimicrobial effect at the level of the plasma membrane of the target microorganism, but the different peptide types are likely to act via different mechanisms.

Abstract: Peptides with antimicrobial properties are present in most if not all plant species All plant antimicrobial peptides isolated so far contain even numbers of cysteines (4, 6, or 8), which are all pairwise connected by disulfide bridges, thus providing high stability to the peptides Based on homologies at the primary structure level, plant antimicrobial peptides can be classified into distinct families including thionins, plant defensins, lipid transfer proteins, and he vein- and knottin-type antimicrobial peptides Detailed three-dimensional structure information has been obtained for one or more members of these peptide families All antimicrobial peptides studied thus far appear to exert their antimicrobial effect at the level of the plasma membrane of the target microorganism, but the different peptide types are likely to act via different mechanisms Antimicrobial peptides can occur in all plant organs In unstressed organs, antimicrobial peptides are usually most abundant in the outer cell