Purification Of Antibacterial Peptide From The Larval Secretions Of Lucilia Sericata

Antimicrobial peptides are a group of immune-related peptides that protect the host from microbial infection. These peptides suppress bacterial infections but have minimal toxic and allergic side effects to the host. Thus, antimicrobial peptides may potentially be applied to drug development and agriculture as new and safe antibiotics or biocontrol agents. It is very important and valuable to isolate antibacterial peptides from Lucilia sericata and to develop these peptides into antibacterial agent.The ultimate goal of this project is to purify enzyme for providing genetic information for cloning the gene coding for the peptide by molecular biology techniques. The following conclusions have been drawn from this experiment:1. Antibacterial assay was tested and confirmed for measurement of Turbidometric (TB) assay as the detection of antibacterial peptide activity.2. The antibacterial substance in larval secretions of Lucilia sericata was proved as peptides. DEAE-sepharose ion exchange chromatography was utilized as primary method and its gradient elution condition was optimized.3. To complete purification of the antibacterial peptide, a series of column chromatography was combined as DEAE-Sepharose ion exchange followed by Superdex-75 gel filtration. The purity of purified peptide was checked by SDS-PAGE, and the peptide showed a single band.