Open AccessEffects of Positively Selected Sequence Variations in Human and Macaca fascicularis β-Defensins 2 on Antimicrobial Activity
Author(s) -
Nikolinka Antcheva,
Michele Boniotto,
Igor Zelezetsky,
Sabrina Pacor,
Maria Vittoria Verga Falzacappa,
Sérgio Crovella,
Alessandro Tossi
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.07
H-Index - 259
eISSN - 1070-6283
pISSN - 0066-4804
DOI - 10.1128/aac.48.2.685-688.2004
Subject(s) - biology , defensin , antimicrobial peptides , antimicrobial , beta defensin , candida albicans , peptide , staphylococcus aureus , escherichia coli , microbiology and biotechnology , genetics , gene , bacteria , biochemistry
The evolution of orthologous genes coding for beta-defensin 2 (BD2) in primates has been subject to positive selection during the divergence of the platyrrhines from the catarrhines and of the Cercopithecidae from the Hylobatidae, great apes, and humans. Three peptides have been selected for a functional analysis of the effects of sequence variations on the direct antimicrobial activity: human BD2 (hBD2), Macaca fascicularis BD2 (mfaBD2), and a variant of the human peptide lacking Asp(4), (-D)hBD2, which is characteristic only of the human/great ape peptides. hBD2 and mfaBD2 showed a significant difference in specificity, the former being more active towards Escherichia coli and the later towards Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans. Asp(4) in the human peptide appears to be important, as (-D)hBD2 was less structured and had a markedly lower antimicrobial activity. The evolution of beta-defensin 2 in primates may thus have been driven, at least in part, by different environmental pressures so as to modulate antimicrobial activity.