Antimicrobial Peptides (AMP) in the Cell-Free Culture Media of <i>Xenorhabdus budapestensis</i> and <i>X. szentirmaii</i> Exert Anti-Protist Activity against Eukaryotic Vertebrate Pathogens including <i>Histomonas meleagridis</i> and <i>Leishmania donovani</i> Species
András Fodor,
Claudia Hess,
Petra Ganas,
Zsófia Boros,
János Kiss,
László Makrai,
Károly Dublecz,
László Pál,
László Fodor,
Anna Sebestyén,
Michael G. Klein,
Eustachio Tarasco,
Manjusha M. Kulkarni,
Bradford S. McGwire,
Tibor Vellai,
Michael Hess
Affiliations
András Fodor
Department of Genetics, Institute of Biology, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter. sétány 1C, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary
Claudia Hess
Clinic for Poultry and Fish Medicine, Department for Farm Animals and Veterinary Public Health, University of Veterinary Medicine (Vetmeduni Vienna), 1210 Vienna, Austria
Petra Ganas
Clinic for Poultry and Fish Medicine, Department for Farm Animals and Veterinary Public Health, University of Veterinary Medicine (Vetmeduni Vienna), 1210 Vienna, Austria
Zsófia Boros
Department of Genetics, Institute of Biology, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter. sétány 1C, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary
János Kiss
Agribiotechnology and Precision Breeding for Food Security National Laboratory, Department of Microbiology and Applied Biotechnology, Institute of Genetics and Biotechnology, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Páter Károly utca 1, H-2100 Gödöllő, Hungary
László Makrai
Autovakcina Kft., H-1171 Budapest, Hungary
Károly Dublecz
Institute of Physiology and Nutrition, Georgikon Campus, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences (MATE), Deák Ferenc utca 16, H-8360 Keszthely, Hungary
László Pál
Institute of Physiology and Nutrition, Georgikon Campus, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences (MATE), Deák Ferenc utca 16, H-8360 Keszthely, Hungary
László Fodor
Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, University of Veterinary Medicine, H-1143 Budapest, Hungary
Anna Sebestyén
First Department of Pathology and Experimental Cancer Research, Semmelweis University, H-1085 Budapest, Hungary
Michael G. Klein
USDA-ARS & Department of Entomology, The Ohio State University, 13416 Claremont Ave, Cleveland, OH 44130, USA
Eustachio Tarasco
Department of Soil, Plant and Food Sciences, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, Via Amendola 165/A, 70126 Bari, Italy
Manjusha M. Kulkarni
Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
Bradford S. McGwire
Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
Tibor Vellai
Department of Genetics, Institute of Biology, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter. sétány 1C, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary
Michael Hess
Clinic for Poultry and Fish Medicine, Department for Farm Animals and Veterinary Public Health, University of Veterinary Medicine (Vetmeduni Vienna), 1210 Vienna, Austria
Anti-microbial peptides provide a powerful toolkit for combating multidrug resistance. Combating eukaryotic pathogens is complicated because the intracellular drug targets in the eukaryotic pathogen are frequently homologs of cellular structures of vital importance in the host organism. The entomopathogenic bacteria (EPB), symbionts of entomopathogenic–nematode species, release a series of non-ribosomal templated anti-microbial peptides. Some may be potential drug candidates. The ability of an entomopathogenic–nematode/entomopathogenic bacterium symbiotic complex to survive in a given polyxenic milieu is a coevolutionary product. This explains that those gene complexes that are responsible for the biosynthesis of different non-ribosomal templated anti-microbial protective peptides (including those that are potently capable of inactivating the protist mammalian pathogen Leishmania donovanii and the gallinaceous bird pathogen Histomonas meleagridis) are co-regulated. Our approach is based on comparative anti-microbial bioassays of the culture media of the wild-type and regulatory mutant strains. We concluded that Xenorhabdus budapestensis and X. szentirmaii are excellent sources of non-ribosomal templated anti-microbial peptides that are efficient antagonists of the mentioned pathogens. Data on selective cytotoxicity of different cell-free culture media encourage us to forecast that the recently discovered “easy-PACId” research strategy is suitable for constructing entomopathogenic-bacterium (EPB) strains producing and releasing single, harmless, non-ribosomal templated anti-microbial peptides with considerable drug, (probiotic)-candidate potential.
