Cecropins and other natural antimicrobial peptides are widely distributed in animals from insects to mammals. These proteins have been shown to be major constituents of the innate immune systems of animals for nonspecific defense of the host against various bacteria and parasites. Therefore, exploitation of this natural innate defense system may lead to the development of effective methods for protecting fish from invasion by microbial pathogens. Recently, we have demonstrated that the introduction of cecropin transgenes into Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes) conferred resistance to infection by fish bacterial pathogens. Aside from a few reports documenting the antiviral effect of antimicrobial peptides including cecropins against mammalian viruses, there is no evidence for the effect of these peptides against fish viruses. In this article we present results of in vitro characterization of native cecropin B and a synthetic analogue, CF17, against several important fish viral pathogens--namely, infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV), viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV), snakehead rhabdovirus (SHRV), and infectious pancreatic necrosis virus (IPNV). Upon coincubation of these peptides and viruses, the viral titers yielded in fish cells were reduced from several fold to 104-fold. Direct disruption of the viral envelope and disintegration of the viral capsids may be involved in the inhibition of viral replication by the peptides. Results of our studies demonstrate the potential of manipulating antimicrobial peptide genes by transgenesis to combat viral infection in fish.

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