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Drosomycin, an essential component of antifungal defence in Drosophila
Author(s) -
Zhang ZT.,
Zhu SY.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
insect molecular biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.955
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1365-2583
pISSN - 0962-1075
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2583.2009.00907.x
Subject(s) - biology , drosophila melanogaster , antimicrobial peptides , defensin , escherichia coli , microbiology and biotechnology , genetics , innate immune system , schneider 2 cells , recombinant dna , antiparasitic , gene , beta defensin , antimicrobial , rna interference , immune system , rna , medicine , pathology
Drosomycin is an inducible antifungal peptide of 44 residues initially isolated from bacteria‐challenged Drosophila melanogaster . The systemic expression of drosomycin is regulated by the Toll pathway present in fat body, whereas inducible local expression in the respiratory tract is controlled by the Immune Deficiency (IMD) pathway. Drosomycin belongs to the cysteine‐stabilized α‐helical and β‐sheet (CSαβ) superfamily and is composed of an α‐helix and a three‐stranded β‐sheet stabilized by four disulphide bridges. Drosomycin exhibits a narrow antimicrobial spectrum and is only active against some filamentous fungi. However, recent work using recombinant drosomycin expressed in Escherichia coli revealed its antiparasitic and anti‐yeast activities. Two evolutionary epitopes (α‐ and γ‐patch) and the m‐loop have been proposed as putative functional regions of drosomycin for interaction with fungi and parasites, respectively. Similarity in sequence, structure and biological activity suggests that drosomycin and some defensin molecules from plants and fungi could originate from a common ancestor.