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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, March 2003, p. 1797-1799, Vol. 69, No. 3
0099-2240/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.69.3.1797-1799.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Strong Synergy between a Eukaryotic Antimicrobial Peptide and Bacteriocins from Lactic Acid Bacteria

Torben Lüders,¹ Gunn Alice Birkemo,² Gunnar Fimland,² Jon Nissen-Meyer,² and Ingolf F. Nes^1*

Laboratory of Microbial Gene Technology, Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology, Agricultural University of Norway, N-1432 Ås,¹ Department of Biochemistry, University of Oslo, N-0316 Oslo, Norway²

Received 5 August 2002/ Accepted 28 December 2002

The antimicrobial effect obtained upon combining the prokaryotic antimicrobial peptides (AMPs; more commonly referred to as bacteriocins) pediocin PA-1, sakacin P, and curvacin A (all produced by lactic acid bacteria [LAB]) with the eukaryotic AMP pleurocidin (from fish) has been investigated. The three LAB AMPs alone were active against gram-positive Listeria ivanovii bacteria at nanomolar concentrations, whereas they were inactive against gram-negative Escherichia coli bacteria. Pleurocidin alone was active against both of these types of bacteria at micromolar concentrations. Little if any synergy between the LAB AMPs and pleurocidin against the gram-positive L. ivanovii strain was obtained. In contrast, the LAB AMPs and pleurocidin acted highly synergistically against the gram-negative E. coli strain. Nanomolar concentrations of LAB AMPs increased the growth inhibitory potency of pleurocidin by about fourfold. When micromolar concentrations of LAB AMPs were combined with 2 µg of pleurocidin/ml, 100% growth inhibition was attained, whereas pleurocidin alone at a concentration of 2 µg/ml gave no growth inhibition. Most noteworthy, when high concentrations (128 µg/ml) of pleurocidin in the absence of LAB AMPs were used over a long period of incubation (1 week), some growth of E. coli was observed, whereas 16 µg of pleurocidin/ml completely abolished growth in the presence of 64 to 128 ng of LAB AMPs/ml over the same period of time. The results clearly demonstrate that combining eukaryotic and prokaryotic AMPs can greatly increase the specific activity and broaden the target-cell range of these peptides.

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* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Laboratory of Microbial Gene Technology, Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology, Agricultural University of Norway, POB 5051, N-1432 Ås, Norway. Phone: (47) 64 94 94 71. Fax: (47) 64 94 14 65. E-mail: ingolf.nes{at}ikb.nlh.no.

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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, March 2003, p. 1797-1799, Vol. 69, No. 3
0099-2240/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.69.3.1797-1799.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

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