[Insect antimicrobial peptides: structures, properties and gene regulation]

Abstract

Insect antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are an important group of insect innate immunity effectors. Insect AMPs are cationic and contain less than 100 amino acid residues. According to structure, insect AMPs can be divided into a limited number of families. The diverse antimicrobial spectrum of insect AMPs may indicate different modes of action. Research on the model organism Drosophila indicate that insect AMPs gene regulation involves multiple signaling pathways and a large number of signaling molecules.