Screening, Expression, Purification and Functional Characterization of Novel Antimicrobial Peptide Genes from Hermetia Illucens (L.)

Overview

Journal PLoS One

Specialties General Medicine
Science

Date 2017 Jan 6

PMID 28056070

Citations 57

Authors

Osama Elhag

Dingzhong Zhou

Qi Song

Abdul Aziz Soomro

Minmin Cai

Longyu Zheng

Ziniu Yu

Jibin Zhang

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Antimicrobial peptides from a wide spectrum of insects possess potent microbicidal properties against microbial-related diseases. In this study, seven new gene fragments of three types of antimicrobial peptides were obtained from Hermetia illucens (L), and were named cecropinZ1, sarcotoxin1, sarcotoxin (2a), sarcotoxin (2b), sarcotoxin3, stomoxynZH1, and stomoxynZH1(a). Among these genes, a 189-basepair gene (stomoxynZH1) was cloned into the pET32a expression vector and expressed in the Escherichia coli as a fusion protein with thioredoxin. Results show that Trx-stomoxynZH1 exhibits diverse inhibitory activity on various pathogens, including Gram-positive bacterium Staphylococcus aureus, Gram-negative bacterium Escherichia coli, fungus Rhizoctonia solani Khün (rice)-10, and fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib.) de Bary-14. The minimum inhibitory concentration of Trx-stomoxynZH1 is higher against Gram-positive bacteria than against Gram-negative bacteria but similar between the fungal strains. These results indicate that H. illucens (L.) could provide a rich source for the discovery of novel antimicrobial peptides. Importantly, stomoxynZH1 displays a potential benefit in controlling antibiotic-resistant pathogens.

Citing Articles

Biological Activity of Peptide Fraction Derived from L. (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) Larvae Haemolymph on Gastric Cancer Cells.

Rinaldi R, Laurino S, Salvia R, Russi S, De Stefano F, Galasso R Int J Mol Sci. 2025; 26(5).

PMID: 40076512 PMC: 11899352. DOI: 10.3390/ijms26051885.

Spiroplasma endosymbiont reduction of host lipid synthesis and Stomoxyn-like peptide contribute to trypanosome resistance in the tsetse fly Glossina fuscipes.

Awuoche E, Smallenberger G, Bruzzese D, Orfano A, Weiss B, Aksoy S PLoS Pathog. 2025; 21(1):e1012692.

PMID: 39888974 PMC: 11819587. DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1012692.

Research Progress on Extracellular Matrix-Based Composite Materials in Antibacterial Field.

Cai D, Liu T, Weng W, Zhu X Biomater Res. 2025; 29():0128.

PMID: 39822928 PMC: 11735711. DOI: 10.34133/bmr.0128.

Dietary Influence on Growth, Physicochemical Stability, and Antimicrobial Mechanisms of Antimicrobial Peptides in Black Soldier Fly Larvae.

Liu S, Raheel Tariq M, Zhang Q, Wang H, Wang F, Zheng C Insects. 2024; 15(11).

PMID: 39590471 PMC: 11595210. DOI: 10.3390/insects15110872.

endosymbiont reduction of host lipid synthesis and Stomoxyn-like peptide contribute to trypanosome resistance in the tsetse fly .

Awuoche E, Smallenberger G, Bruzzese D, Orfano A, Weiss B, Aksoy S bioRxiv. 2024; .

PMID: 39484388 PMC: 11527105. DOI: 10.1101/2024.10.24.620045.

References

Dang X, Wang Y, Huang Y, Yu X, Zhang W . Purification and characterization of an antimicrobial peptide, insect defensin, from immunized house fly (Diptera: Muscidae). J Med Entomol. 2010; 47(6):1141-5. DOI: 10.1603/ME10016. View

Khaledi N, Taheri P, Tarighi S . Antifungal activity of various essential oils against Rhizoctonia solani and Macrophomina phaseolina as major bean pathogens. J Appl Microbiol. 2014; 118(3):704-17. DOI: 10.1111/jam.12730. View

Oard S, Rush M, Oard J . Characterization of antimicrobial peptides against a US strain of the rice pathogen Rhizoctonia solani. J Appl Microbiol. 2004; 97(1):169-80. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2672.2004.02291.x. View

van der Weerden N, Bleackley M, Anderson M . Properties and mechanisms of action of naturally occurring antifungal peptides. Cell Mol Life Sci. 2013; 70(19):3545-70. PMC: 11114075. DOI: 10.1007/s00018-013-1260-1. View

Aly R, Granot D, Halpern N, Nir D, Galun E . Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells harboring the gene encoding sarcotoxin IA secrete a peptide that is toxic to plant pathogenic bacteria. Protein Expr Purif. 1999; 16(1):120-4. DOI: 10.1006/prep.1999.1059. View

Wang Z, Shi M, Ye X, Chen M, Chen X . Identification, characterization and expression of a defensin-like antifungal peptide from the whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae). Insect Mol Biol. 2013; 22(3):297-305. DOI: 10.1111/imb.12021. View

Erickson M, Islam M, Sheppard C, Liao J, Doyle M . Reduction of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis in chicken manure by larvae of the black soldier fly. J Food Prot. 2004; 67(4):685-90. DOI: 10.4315/0362-028x-67.4.685. View

Zhang J, Huang L, He J, Tomberlin J, Li J, Lei C . An artificial light source influences mating and oviposition of black soldier flies, Hermetia illucens. J Insect Sci. 2011; 10:202. PMC: 3029228. DOI: 10.1673/031.010.20201. View

Zhang J, Movahedi A, Wang X, Wu X, Yin T, Zhuge Q . Molecular structure, chemical synthesis, and antibacterial activity of ABP-dHC-cecropin A from drury (Hyphantria cunea). Peptides. 2014; 68:197-204. DOI: 10.1016/j.peptides.2014.09.011. View

10.

Wang H, Meng X, Xu J, Wang J, Wang H, Ma C . Production, purification, and characterization of the cecropin from Plutella xylostella, pxCECA1, using an intein-induced self-cleavable system in Escherichia coli. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol. 2012; 94(4):1031-9. DOI: 10.1007/s00253-011-3863-5. View

11.

Hu H, Wang C, Guo X, Li W, Wang Y, He Q . Broad activity against porcine bacterial pathogens displayed by two insect antimicrobial peptides moricin and cecropin B. Mol Cells. 2013; 35(2):106-14. PMC: 3887904. DOI: 10.1007/s10059-013-2132-0. View

12.

Kanai A, Natori S . Analysis of a gene cluster for sarcotoxin II, a group of antibacterial proteins of Sarcophaga peregrina. Mol Cell Biol. 1990; 10(12):6114-22. PMC: 362886. DOI: 10.1128/mcb.10.12.6114-6122.1990. View

13.

Wang Z, Shi M, Zhao W, Bian Q, Ye G, Chen X . Identification and characterization of defensin genes from the endoparasitoid wasp Cotesia vestalis (Hymenoptera: Braconidae). J Insect Physiol. 2013; 59(11):1095-103. DOI: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2013.08.011. View

14.

Yu D, Sheng Z, Xu X, Li J, Yang H, Liu Z . A novel antimicrobial peptide from salivary glands of the hard tick, Ixodes sinensis. Peptides. 2005; 27(1):31-5. DOI: 10.1016/j.peptides.2005.06.020. View

15.

Yang W, Cheng T, Ye M, Deng X, Yi H, Huang Y . Functional divergence among silkworm antimicrobial peptide paralogs by the activities of recombinant proteins and the induced expression profiles. PLoS One. 2011; 6(3):e18109. PMC: 3066212. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0018109. View

16.

Skosyrev V, Kulesskiy E, Yakhnin A, Temirov Y, Vinokurov L . Expression of the recombinant antibacterial peptide sarcotoxin IA in Escherichia coli cells. Protein Expr Purif. 2003; 28(2):350-6. DOI: 10.1016/s1046-5928(02)00697-6. View

17.

Holaskova E, Galuszka P, Frebort I, Oz M . Antimicrobial peptide production and plant-based expression systems for medical and agricultural biotechnology. Biotechnol Adv. 2015; 33(6 Pt 2):1005-23. DOI: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2015.03.007. View

18.

Okada M, Natori S . Primary structure of sarcotoxin I, an antibacterial protein induced in the hemolymph of Sarcophaga peregrina (flesh fly) larvae. J Biol Chem. 1985; 260(12):7174-7. View

19.

Hultmark D, Steiner H, Rasmuson T, Boman H . Insect immunity. Purification and properties of three inducible bactericidal proteins from hemolymph of immunized pupae of Hyalophora cecropia. Eur J Biochem. 1980; 106(1):7-16. DOI: 10.1111/j.1432-1033.1980.tb05991.x. View

20.

Wang K, Yan J, Dang W, Liu X, Chen R, Zhang J . Membrane active antimicrobial activity and molecular dynamics study of a novel cationic antimicrobial peptide polybia-MPI, from the venom of Polybia paulista. Peptides. 2012; 39:80-8. DOI: 10.1016/j.peptides.2012.11.002. View