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What are the desert locust anti-microbial-peptides? 


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The desert locust possesses anti-microbial peptides (AMPs) such as attacins and antidiuretic peptides. Attacins MpAtt1 and MpAtt2 from the desert beetle Microdera punctipennis exhibit cold-inducible expression, suggesting a link between insect immune response and cold exposure . Additionally, an antidiuretic peptide factor located in the ventral ganglia of the desert locust enhances active ion transport across locust ilea . Insects, including the desert locust, produce AMPs like cecropins and defensins, which play crucial roles in innate immunity by disrupting microbial membranes and controlling pathogens . These peptides show promise as therapeutic candidates against multi-drug resistant infections due to their antimicrobial activity and low toxicity to mammalian cells.

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The desert locust antimicrobial peptides are a family of CSαβ defensins and defensin-like peptides, including LmDEF 1, 3, and 5, identified in the migratory locust Locusta migratoria.
Open accessJournal ArticleDOI
Qinghua Wu, Jiří Patočka, Kamil Kuca 
08 Nov 2018-Toxins
276 Citations
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