Identification of a novel storage glycine-rich peptide from guava (Psidium guajava) seeds with activity against Gram-negative bacteria

Peptides. 2008 Aug;29(8):1271-9. doi: 10.1016/j.peptides.2008.03.013. Epub 2008 Mar 22.

Abstract

Bacterial pathogens cause an expressive negative impact worldwide on human health, with ever increasing treatment costs. A significant rise in resistance to commercial antibiotics has been observed in pathogenic bacteria responsible for urinary and gastro-intestinal infections. Towards the development of novel approaches to control such common infections, a number of defense peptides with antibacterial activities have been characterized. In this report, the peptide Pg-AMP1 was isolated from guava seeds (Psidium guajava) and purified using a Red-Sepharose Cl-6B affinity column followed by a reversed-phase HPLC (Vydac C18-TP). Pg-AMP1 showed no inhibitory activity against fungi, but resulted in a clear growth reduction in Klebsiella sp. and Proteus sp., which are the principal pathogens involved in urinary and gastro-intestinal hospital infections. SDS-PAGE and mass spectrometry (MALDI-ToF) characterized Pg-AMP1 a monomer with a molecular mass of 6029.34Da and small quantities of a homodimer. Amino acid sequencing revealed clear identity to the plant glycine-rich protein family, with Pg-AMP1 the first such protein with activity towards Gram-negative bacteria. Furthermore, Pg-AMP1 showed a 3D structural homology to an enterotoxin from Escherichia coli, and other antibacterial proteins, revealing that it might act by formation of a dimer. Pg-AMP1 shows potential, in a near future, to contribute to development of novel antibiotics from natural sources.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Anti-Infective Agents / chemistry
  • Anti-Infective Agents / isolation & purification
  • Anti-Infective Agents / pharmacology*
  • Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel
  • Glycine / chemistry*
  • Gram-Negative Bacteria / drug effects*
  • Microbial Sensitivity Tests
  • Models, Molecular
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Plant Proteins / chemistry
  • Plant Proteins / isolation & purification
  • Plant Proteins / pharmacology*
  • Protein Conformation
  • Psidium / chemistry*
  • Seeds / chemistry*
  • Sequence Alignment

Substances

  • Anti-Infective Agents
  • Plant Proteins
  • Glycine