植物多肽抗生素研究进展

植物多肽抗生素是一类对细菌、真菌等微生物及某些昆虫和动植物细胞具有抑制或杀灭作用的小分子多肽. 根据多肽抗生素的氨基酸序列及二级结构，可将植物多肽抗生素分为9类，包括硫素（thionins）、植物防御素（plant defensins）、转脂蛋白（lipid transfer proteins, LTPs）、橡胶素（heveins）、打结素（knottins）、凤仙花素(1b-AMPs)和新近发现的荠菜素（shepherdins）、蜕皮素（snakins）、环肽（cyclotides）. 对近年来植物多肽抗生素的分类、抗菌机理、生物活性及基因工程等方面的研究情况作一介绍，希望有助于我国在这一领域的研究与开发.

Progress in The Research of Plant Peptide Antibiotics

Peptide antibiotics from plants are a type of small-size peptides which at least display antimicrobial property in vitro. The expression of some of them can be induced by many factors such as bacteria, fungi and other physical and chemical stimuli, others are constitutively expressed. According to the nucleotide sequences and their secondary-dimensional structures, nine families of peptide antibiotics have been identified in plants. These include thionins, defensins, so-called lipid transfer proteins, hevein- and knottin-like peptides, four cysteine-type, and the recently reported shepherdins, snakins and cyclotides. Recent advances concerning the classification, mode of action, biological properties and plant genetic engineering with some of peptides antibiotics are summarized in an attempt to promote the research and development in this field in China.