Utilizing Red Spotted Apollo Butterfly Transcriptome to Identify Antimicrobial Peptide Candidates against Porphyromonas gingivalis

Kang-Woon Lee, Jae-Goo Kim, Karpagam Veerappan, Hoyong Chung, Sathishkumar Natarajan , Ki-Young Kim and Junhyung Park

Simple Summary: Infections caused by bacteria, fungi, or viruses possess serious threat to human

health and life. This is well realized in the current COVID-19 pandemic scenario. Antimicrobial

peptides (AMPs) are a natural line of defense in many organisms, especially insects which survive in extreme niches. Here we identified AMPs from red spotted apollo butterflies found at high altitudes in Russia, China, and Korea. The larval development stage occurs on the months of December to April, when there are very low temperatures. The insects natural defense mechanism might contribute to withstand this condition, which is our point of interest, and we utilized the genomic information to identify AMPs from red spotted butterflies. The obtained AMPs were tested against a list of pathogenic bacteria and fungi. Finally, we obtained one promising candidate active against Porphyromonas gingivalis, a causative organism for periodontitis. With further validations, this could be a lead antimicrobial agent in future.

Reference : https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/12/5/466