Cysteine-rich antimicrobial peptides from plants: The future of antimicrobial therapy

Shilpi Srivastava, Kavya Dashora, Keshav Lalit Ameta, Nagendra Pratap Singh, Hesham Ali El-Enshasy, Marcela Claudia Pagano, Abd El Latif Hesham, Gauri Dutt Sharma, Minaxi Sharma, Atul Bhargava

Research output: Journal PublicationReview articlepeer-review

60 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

There has been a spurt in the spread of microbial resistance to antibiotics due to indiscriminate use of antimicrobial agents in human medicine, agriculture, and animal husbandry. It has been realized that conventional antibiotic therapy would be less effective in the coming decades and more emphasis should be given for the development of novel antiinfective therapies. Cysteine rich peptides (CRPs) are broad-spectrum antimicrobial agents that modulate the innate immune system of different life forms such as bacteria, protozoans, fungi, plants, insects, and animals. These are also expressed in several plant tissues in response to invasion by pathogens, and play a crucial role in the regulation of plant growth and development. The present work explores the importance of CRPs as potent antimicrobial agents, which can supplement and/or replace the conventional antibiotics. Different plant parts of diverse plant species showed the presence of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), which had significant structural and functional diversity. The plant-derived AMPs exhibited potent activity toward a range of plant and animal pathogens, protozoans, insects, and even against cancer cells. The cysteine-rich AMPs have opened new avenues for the use of plants as biofactories for the production of antimicrobials and can be considered as promising antimicrobial drugs in biotherapeutics.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)256-277
Number of pages22
JournalPhytotherapy Research
Volume35
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan 2021
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • AMPs
  • cyclotides
  • cysteine-rich peptides
  • defensins
  • therapeutics
  • thionins

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Pharmacology

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