Due to the growing threat of antibiotic resistance, there is an urgent need for novel and effective antimicrobial agents. As small molecules that have historically served an antimicrobial role, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are now a viable option due to their multifaceted mechanisms of action and high specificity. To expedite the search for novel AMPs, our lab has developed the PepSAVI-MS (statistically-guided bioactive peptides prioritized via mass spectrometry) pipeline to rapidly identify AMPs from natural sources. Unlike its alternatives, the pipeline integrates peptide extraction methods, mass spectrometry, and statistical modeling to efficiently isolate AMPs and characterize their bioactivity. Application of this pipeline to Solanum lycopersicum (tomato), a model plant well-known for its antimicrobial and medicinal prospects, was sought. In that application, novel potential AMPs in Solanum lycopersicum bioactive against the antibiotic-resistant ESKAPE pathogens were isolated and identified. Here, we present the results of that isolation and identification.

Isolation and identification of antimicrobial peptides from Solanum lycopersicum

255th National Meeting (2018)

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