International Journal of Molecular Sciences Article Potent Activity of Hybrid Arthropod Antimicrobial Peptides Linked by Glycine Spacers Miray Tonk 1,2 , James J. Valdés 3,4,5 , Alejandro Cabezas-Cruz 6 and Andreas Vilcinskas 1,2,7,* 1 Institute for Insect Biotechnology, Justus Liebig University of Giessen, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 26-32, 35392 Giessen, Germany;
[email protected] 2 LOEWE Centre for Translational Biodiversity Genomics (LOEWE-TBG), Senckenberganlage 25, 60325 Frankfurt, Germany 3 Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, Branišovská 1160/31, 37005 Ceskˇ é Budˇejovice,Czech Republic;
[email protected] 4 Department of Virology, Veterinary Research Institute, Hudcova 70, 62100 Brno, Czech Republic 5 Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branišovská 1160/31, 37005 Ceskˇ é Budˇejovice,Czech Republic 6 Anses, INRAE, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d’Alfort, UMR BIPAR, Laboratoire de Santé Animale, F-94700 Maisons-Alfort, France;
[email protected] 7 Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology, Branch of Bioresources, Ohlebersweg 12, 35392 Giessen, Germany * Correspondence:
[email protected] Abstract: Arthropod antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) offer a promising source of new leads to address the declining number of novel antibiotics and the increasing prevalence of multidrug-resistant bacterial pathogens. AMPs with potent activity against Gram-negative bacteria and distinct modes Citation: Tonk, M.; Valdés, J.J.; of action have been identified in insects and scorpions, allowing the discovery of AMP combinations Cabezas-Cruz, A.; Vilcinskas, A. with additive and/or synergistic effects. Here, we tested the synergistic activity of two AMPs, Potent Activity of Hybrid Arthropod from the dung beetle Copris tripartitus (CopA3) and the scorpion Heterometrus petersii (Hp1090), Antimicrobial Peptides Linked by against two strains of Escherichia coli.