The role of antimicrobial peptides in plant immunity

Abstract

Selective pressure imposed by millions of years of relentless biological attack has led to the development of an extraordinary array of defense strategies in plants. Among these, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) stand out as one of the most prominent components of the plant immune system. These small and usually basic peptides are deployed as a generalist defense strategy that grants direct and durable resistance against biotic stress. Even though their name implies a function against microbes, the range of plant-associated organisms affected by these peptides is much broader. In this review, we highlight the advances in our understanding on the role of AMPs in plant immunity. We demonstrate that the capacity of plant AMPs to act against a large spectrum of enemies relies on their diverse mechanism of action and remarkable structural stability. The efficacy of AMPs as a defense strategy is evidenced by their widespread occurrence in the plant kingdom, an astonishing heterogeneity in host peptide composition, and the extent to which plant enemies have evolved effective counter-measures to evade AMP action. Plant AMPs are becoming an important topic of research due to their significance in allowing plants to thrive and for their enormous potential in agronomical and pharmaceutical fields.

Defensins of Grasses: A Systematic Review

“…Among plant defense molecules, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) play a pivotal role [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ]. These gene-encoded defense molecules display high structural diversity and broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity.…”

Hevein-Like Antimicrobial Peptides Wamps: Structure–Function Relationship in Antifungal Activity and Sensitization of Plant Pathogenic Fungi to Tebuconazole by WAMP-2-Derived Peptides

“…AMPs represent a structurally diverse group of cysteine-rich molecules suppressing growth and development of pathogenic microorganisms via different modes of action [4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. Of them, plasma membrane permeabilization is the most common; however, some AMPs target intracellular components.…”

Predicting Antimicrobial and Other Cysteine-Rich Peptides in 1267 Plant Transcriptomes

“…AMPs are interesting agents for developing novel antimicrobial and antifungal drugs since their unique mode of action greatly decreases the likelihood of resistance development [3]. Studying of plant AMPs, in particular, can elucidate plant-pathogen interactions and provide useful information regarding the innate immunity mechanisms [4]. However, molecular biology-based methods of searching for new AMPs are complex, laborious and expensive.…”