title: The synthetic form of a novel chicken beta-defensin identified in silico is predominantly active against intestinal pathogens.
abstract: Antimicrobial peptides are essential components of innate immunity and are generally thought to act by disrupting the membrane integrity of microbes. Here we report the discovery of two novel chicken beta-defensins, gallinacin (Gal)-11 and Gal-12, found by hidden Markov model profile searching of the chicken genome. We have sequenced the genes and elucidated the 3'UTR of Gal-11. Differential mRNA expression of these novel genes has been shown across a panel of chicken tissues. Gal-11 mRNA was highly expressed in the small intestine, the liver, the gall bladder and the spleen and also showed moderate expression in several other areas of the chicken anatomy, whilst Gal-12 mRNA was found only in the liver and the gall bladder. Antimicrobial activity of synthetic Gal-11 has been demonstrated against a range of bacteria and is predominantly active against the intestinal pathogens Salmonella typhimurium and Listeria monocytogenes.
authors.affiliation: Education and Research Centre, St. Vincent's University Hospital, Dublin 4, Ireland.
authors.forename: Rowan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Higgs
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Lynn
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gaines
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McMahon
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tierney
authors.forename: Tharappel
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: James
authors.forename: Andrew T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Lloyd
authors.forename: Grace
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mulcahy
authors.forename: Cliona
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: O'Farrelly
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D030161:Avian Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D001483:Base Sequence; D002645:Chickens / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D019295:Computational Biology; D007422:Intestines / Q000382:microbiology*; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010455:Peptides / Q000138:chemical synthesis; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D023083:beta-Defensins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D030161:Avian Proteins; D010455:Peptides; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D023083:beta-Defensins
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