| Title |
Identification and Characterization of a Novel Antibacterial Peptide, Avian β-Defensin 2 from Ducks |
| Author |
Deying Ma1, Ruiqin Wang1,2, Wenyan Liao1,2, Zongxi Han2, and Shengwang Liu2* |
| Address |
1Institute of Animal Nutrition, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, P. R. China, 2Division of Avian Infectious Diseases, State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Biotechnology, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin 150001, P. R. China |
| Bibliography |
Journal of Microbiology, 47(5),610-618, 2009,
|
| DOI |
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| Key Words |
duck, AvBD, recombinant protein, antimicrobial activity |
| Abstract |
In this study, a novel avian β-defensin (AvBD) was isolated from duck pancreas. The complete nucleotide sequence of the gene contained an 195 bp open reading frame encoding 64 amino acids. Homology, characterization and comparison of the gene with AvBD from other avian species confirmed that it was duck AvBD2. The mRNA expression of the gene was analyzed in 17 tissues from 21-day-old ducks. AvBD2 was highly expressed in the trachea, crop, heart, bone marrow, and pancreas; moderately expressed in the muscular stomach, small intestine, kidney, spleen, thymus, and bursa of Fabricius; and weakly expressed in skin. We produced and purified recombinant AvBD2 by expressing the gene in Escherichia coli. As expected, the recombinant peptide exhibited strong bactericidal properties against Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, and Pasteurella multocida, and weak bactericidal properties against E. coli and Salmonella choleraesuis. In addition, the recombinant protein retained antimicrobial activity against S. aureus under different temperatures (range, -20°C to 100°C) and pH values (range, 3 to 12). |
