Screening for antifungal peptides and their modes of action in Aspergillus nidulans.

ABSTRACT: Many short cationic peptides have been identified as potent antimicrobial agents, but their modes of action are not well understood. Peptide synthesis on cellulose membranes has resulted in the generation of peptide libraries, while high-throughput assays have been developed to test their antibacterial activities. In this paper a microtiter plate-based screening method for fungi has been developed and used to test nine antibacterial peptides against the model fungus Aspergillus nidulans. Microscopical studies using sublethal peptide concentrations caused defects in polarized growth, including increased branch formation and depolarized hyphae. We characterized the mode of action for one of our target peptides, Sub5 (12 amino acids), which has already been shown to possess pharmacological po

SUBMITTER: Mania D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2976221 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature