Peptide Conjugates Derived from flg15, Pep13, and PIP1 That Are Active against Plant-Pathogenic Bacteria and Trigger Plant Defense Responses

Abstract

The consequences of plant pathogens on crop production together with the lack of effective and environmentally friendly pesticides evidence the need of new agents to control plant diseases. Antimicrobial and plant defense elicitor peptides have emerged as good candidates to tackle this problem.

Prunus dulcis response to novel defense elicitor peptides and control of Xylella fastidiosa infections

“…Interestingly, RIJK2 has been described to have other activities such as antibacterial and antibiofilm against Xff (Moll et al 2021 ). Regarding BP16 and FV7, they have been reported to display antibacterial activity against some Gram-negative bacteria, but not against X. fastidiosa (Badosa et al 2007 ; De La Fuente-Núñez et al 2012 ; Oliveras et al 2022 ). In addition, in previous studies, we identified peptide conjugates with interesting results and observed that the monomers present in their sequence as well as the order of the conjugation have an important influence on their activity as plant defense elicitors (Oliveras et al 2022 ).…”

“…Regarding BP16 and FV7, they have been reported to display antibacterial activity against some Gram-negative bacteria, but not against X. fastidiosa (Badosa et al 2007 ; De La Fuente-Núñez et al 2012 ; Oliveras et al 2022 ). In addition, in previous studies, we identified peptide conjugates with interesting results and observed that the monomers present in their sequence as well as the order of the conjugation have an important influence on their activity as plant defense elicitors (Oliveras et al 2022 ). The most relevant peptide conjugates were BP100-flg15, flg15-BP100, and BP16-Pep13 , resulting from the conjugation of BP100 with flg15 and BP16 with Pep13 .…”

“…Peptides BP100 , BP16 , KSLW , 1036 , RIJK2, and FV7 were selected because they display high antibacterial or antibiofilm activity against Gram-negative bacteria, being good candidates to be tested as plant defense elicitors (Na et al 2007 ; Badosa et al 2007 ; De La Fuente-Núñez et al 2012 , 2015 ; Xu et al 2014 ; Moll et al 2021 ). Peptide conjugates BP100-flg15 , flg15-BP100 , BP16-Pep13 , Pep13-BP16 , flg15-BP16, and BP16-flg15, incorporating a peptide elicitor ( flg15 , Pep13 ) and an antimicrobial peptide ( BP100 , BP16 ), were also included in this study (Caravaca-Fuentes et al 2021 ; Oliveras et al 2022 ). Peptide flg15-BP16 was previously identified in our group as a multifunctional peptide with the ability to induce defense responses in tomato plants and to reduce the severity of fire blight in pear plants (Caravaca-Fuentes et al 2021 ).…”

“…campestris among others, together with plant defense elicitor properties in N. benthamiana, S. lycopersicum, and Prunus dulcis (Badosa et al 2013 ; Montesinos et al 2021 ; Moll et al 2022 ). We also reported multifunctional peptides obtained from the conjugation of a plant defense elicitor and an antimicrobial peptide such as flg15-BP475 and flg15 - BP16 (Oliveras et al 2022 ; Caravaca-Fuentes et al 2021 ).…”

Synthesis and Analysis of Structure-Activity Relationship of Antimicrobial Peptide Conjugates Incorporating a Plant Defence Elicitor

“…In our group we have recently reported the synthesis of peptide conjugates incorporating an antimicrobial sequence, derived from the lead peptide BP100 (KKLFKKILKYL-NH2), and a plant defense elicitor. These conjugates were screened for their antimicrobial activity against bacterial pathogens, their hemolytic activity, and their effect on plant defense gene expression [5].…”