title: Antimicrobial peptides in the centipede Scolopendra subspinipes mutilans.
abstract: The centipede Scolopendra subspinipes mutilans is an environmentally beneficial and medically important arthropod species. Although this species is increasingly applied as a reliable source of new antimicrobial peptides, the transcriptome of this species is a prerequisite for more rational selection of antimicrobial peptides. In this report, we isolated total RNA from the whole body of adult centipedes, S. subspinipes mutilans, that were nonimmunized and immunized against Escherichia coli, and we generated a total of 77,063 pooled contigs and singletons using high-throughput sequencing. To screen putative antimicrobial peptides, in silico analyses of the S. subspinipes mutilans transcriptome were performed based on the physicochemical evidence of length, charge, isoelectric point, and in vitro and in vivo aggregation scores together with the existence of continuous antimicrobial peptide stretches. Moreover, we excluded some transcripts that showed similarity with both previously known antimicrobial peptides and the human proteome, had a proteolytic cleavage site, and had downregulated expression compared with the nonimmunized sample. As a result, we selected 17 transcripts and tested their antimicrobial activity with a radial diffusion assay. Among them, ten synthetic peptides experimentally showed antimicrobial activity against microbes and no toxicity to mouse erythrocytes. Our results provide not only a useful set of antimicrobial peptide candidates and an efficient strategy for novel antimicrobial peptide development but also the transcriptome data of a big centipede as a valuable resource.
authors.affiliation: Codes Division, Insilicogen, Inc., Suwon, Gyeonggi-do, 441-813, South Korea, wongi.yoo@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Won Gi
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Yoo
authors.forename: Joon Ha
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Younhee
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Jae-Young
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Shim
authors.forename: Myunghee
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.forename: Byeong-Chul
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Jaedon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: Jiyeon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Seong
authors.forename: Hak Kyo
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Hong Sik
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.forename: Ki-Duk
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Eun-Young
authors.initials: EY
authors.lastname: Yun
authors.forename: In-Woo
authors.initials: IW
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Young-Nam
authors.initials: YN
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.forename: Dong Gun
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Ui-Wook
authors.initials: UW
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.forename: Junhyung
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Jae Sam
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Hwang
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000235:genetics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D060829:Arthropod Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001181:Arthropods / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology; D002176:Candida albicans / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development; D020451:Contig Mapping; D000077743:Diterpene Alkaloids; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000378:metabolism*; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000737:chemistry / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development; D006461:Hemolysis / Q000187:drug effects; D059014:High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; D006801:Humans; D007114:Immunization; D051379:Mice; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D060327:Solid-Phase Synthesis Techniques; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development; D059467:Transcriptome
chemical_list: D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; D060829:Arthropod Proteins; D000077743:Diterpene Alkaloids; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; C574917:scolopendra alkaloids