Antimicrobial peptides: A natural alternative to chemical antibiotics and a potential for applied biotechnology

A large group of low molecular weight natural compounds that exhibit antimicrobial activity has been isolated from animals and plants during the past two decades. Among them, cationic peptides are the most widespread. Interestingly, the variety and diversity of these peptides seem to be much wider t...

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Autores principales: Marshall,Sergio H., Arenas,Gloria
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso 2003
Acceso en línea:http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0717-34582003000300011
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spelling oai:scielo:S0717-345820030003000112004-05-04Antimicrobial peptides: A natural alternative to chemical antibiotics and a potential for applied biotechnologyMarshall,Sergio H.Arenas,Gloria A large group of low molecular weight natural compounds that exhibit antimicrobial activity has been isolated from animals and plants during the past two decades. Among them, cationic peptides are the most widespread. Interestingly, the variety and diversity of these peptides seem to be much wider than suspected. In fact, novel classes of peptides with varying chemical propertiescontinue to be isolated from different vertebrate and invertebrate species, as well as from bacteria. To the early characterized peptides, mostly cationic in nature, anionic peptides, aromatic dipeptides, processed forms of oxygen-binding proteins and processed forms of natural structural and functional proteins can now be added, just to name a few. In spite of the astonishing diversity in structure and chemical nature displayed by these molecules, all of them present antimicrobial activity, a condition that has led researchers to consider them as "natural antibiotics" and as such a new and innovative alternative to chemical antibiotics with a promising future as biotechnological tools. A resulting new generation of anti microbial peptides (AMPs) with higher specific activity and wider microbe-range of action could be constructed, and hopefully endogenously expressed in genetically-modified organisms.info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessPontificia Universidad Católica de ValparaísoElectronic Journal of Biotechnology v.6 n.3 20032003-12-01text/htmlhttp://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0717-34582003000300011en
institution Scielo Chile
collection Scielo Chile
language English
description A large group of low molecular weight natural compounds that exhibit antimicrobial activity has been isolated from animals and plants during the past two decades. Among them, cationic peptides are the most widespread. Interestingly, the variety and diversity of these peptides seem to be much wider than suspected. In fact, novel classes of peptides with varying chemical propertiescontinue to be isolated from different vertebrate and invertebrate species, as well as from bacteria. To the early characterized peptides, mostly cationic in nature, anionic peptides, aromatic dipeptides, processed forms of oxygen-binding proteins and processed forms of natural structural and functional proteins can now be added, just to name a few. In spite of the astonishing diversity in structure and chemical nature displayed by these molecules, all of them present antimicrobial activity, a condition that has led researchers to consider them as "natural antibiotics" and as such a new and innovative alternative to chemical antibiotics with a promising future as biotechnological tools. A resulting new generation of anti microbial peptides (AMPs) with higher specific activity and wider microbe-range of action could be constructed, and hopefully endogenously expressed in genetically-modified organisms.
author Marshall,Sergio H.
Arenas,Gloria
spellingShingle Marshall,Sergio H.
Arenas,Gloria
Antimicrobial peptides: A natural alternative to chemical antibiotics and a potential for applied biotechnology
author_facet Marshall,Sergio H.
Arenas,Gloria
author_sort Marshall,Sergio H.
title Antimicrobial peptides: A natural alternative to chemical antibiotics and a potential for applied biotechnology
title_short Antimicrobial peptides: A natural alternative to chemical antibiotics and a potential for applied biotechnology
title_full Antimicrobial peptides: A natural alternative to chemical antibiotics and a potential for applied biotechnology
title_fullStr Antimicrobial peptides: A natural alternative to chemical antibiotics and a potential for applied biotechnology
title_full_unstemmed Antimicrobial peptides: A natural alternative to chemical antibiotics and a potential for applied biotechnology
title_sort antimicrobial peptides: a natural alternative to chemical antibiotics and a potential for applied biotechnology
publisher Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso
publishDate 2003
url http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0717-34582003000300011
work_keys_str_mv AT marshallsergioh antimicrobialpeptidesanaturalalternativetochemicalantibioticsandapotentialforappliedbiotechnology
AT arenasgloria antimicrobialpeptidesanaturalalternativetochemicalantibioticsandapotentialforappliedbiotechnology
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