Disease relevance of LOC406144

• A 39-residue abaecin was isolated, the largest proline-rich antimicrobial peptide characterized to date, which showed activity against both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria [1].

High impact information on LOC406144

• In addition to the previously characterized apidaecins and abaecin, we also isolated a member of the defensin family of peptide antibiotics and, now, a novel 93-amino acid long, cationic polypeptide, termed hymenoptaecin [2].
• The primary structure and antibacterial character of the novel peptides resemble those of abaecin (41% identity in amino acid sequence), an antibacterial peptide of the honeybee, although abaecin is not O-glycosylated [3].
• A humoral immune response of bees parasitized by V. destructor may be detected by studying the expression levels of antibacterial peptides, such as abaecin and defensin, known to be immune-responsive [4].
• One of these genes, abaecin, shows significant up-regulation 24 h following oral inoculation with P. larvae, precisely when the bacterium surmounts the midgut epithelia of bees [5].

References