title: Identification of a histone derived, putative antimicrobial peptide Himanturin from round whip ray Himantura pastinacoides and its phylogenetic significance.
abstract: Histone H2A participates in host defense responses by producing antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). The present study deals with identification of a putative antimicrobial sequence, Himanturin from the histone H2A of Round Whip Ray, Himantura pastinacoides. A 204 bp fragment encoding 68 amino acid residues was amplified from cDNA of Round Whip Ray, H. pastinacoides. Himanturin exhibited high similarity to previously reported histone H2A derived AMPs indicating the presence of an antimicrobial sequence motif. Physicochemical properties of Himanturin suggest it to be a potential antimicrobial candidate.
authors.affiliation: Department of Marine Biology, Microbiology and Biochemistry, School of Marine Sciences, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Fine Arts Avenue, Kochi 682016, Kerala, India.
authors.forename: Naveen
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sathyan
authors.affiliation: Department of Marine Biology, Microbiology and Biochemistry, School of Marine Sciences, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Fine Arts Avenue, Kochi 682016, Kerala, India.
authors.forename: Rosamma
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Philip
authors.affiliation: Department of Marine Biology, Microbiology and Biochemistry, School of Marine Sciences, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Fine Arts Avenue, Kochi 682016, Kerala, India.
authors.forename: E R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Chaithanya
authors.affiliation: Department of Marine Biology, Microbiology and Biochemistry, School of Marine Sciences, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Fine Arts Avenue, Kochi 682016, Kerala, India.
authors.forename: P R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Anil Kumar
authors.affiliation: Department of Marine Biology, Microbiology and Biochemistry, School of Marine Sciences, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Fine Arts Avenue, Kochi 682016, Kerala, India.
authors.forename: Swapna P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Antony
keywords: Antimicrobial peptide; Elasmobranch; Himantura pastinacoides; Himanturin; Histone H2A