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J Biol Chem, Vol. 274, Issue 14, 9320-9326, April 2, 1999

Insect Immunity
ISOLATION FROM THE LEPIDOPTERAN HELIOTHIS VIRESCENS OF A NOVEL INSECT DEFENSIN WITH POTENT ANTIFUNGAL ACTIVITY

Mireille Lamberty, Sarah Ades, Sandrine Uttenweiler-Joseph, Gary Brookhart^§, Dean Bushey^§, Jules A. Hoffmann, and Philippe Bulet

From the  Institut de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, Unité Propre de Recherche 9022, CNRS, "Réponse Immunitaire et Développement chez les Insectes," 15 rue René Descartes, 67084 Strasbourg Cedex, France and ^§ Rhône-Poulenc Agro, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27709-2014

Lepidoptera have been reported to produce several antibacterial peptides in response to septic injury. However, in marked contrast to other insect groups, no inducible antifungal molecules had been described so far in this insect order. Surprisingly, also cysteine-rich antimicrobial peptides, which predominate in the antimicrobial defense of other insects, had not been discovered in Lepidoptera. Here we report the isolation from the hemolymph of immune induced larvae of the lepidopteran Heliothis virescens of a cysteine-rich molecule with exclusive antifungal activity. We have fully characterized this antifungal molecule, which has significant homology with the insect defensins, a large family of antibacterial peptides directed against Gram-positive strains. Interestingly, the novel peptide shows also similarities with the antifungal peptide drosomycin from Drosophila.

Thus, Lepidoptera appear to have built their humoral immune response against bacteria on cecropins and attacins. In addition, we report that Lepidoptera have conferred antifungal properties to the well conserved structure of antibacterial insect defensins through amino acid replacements.

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Copyright © 1999 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

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