The first peptidic antibiotic was described in 1968 coming from the Manduca sexta and was of linear nature; since then the number of antimicrobial peptide discovered have grown asymptotically. Though loose homology has been found between certain set of antimicrobial peptides; it has proven difficult to classify the AMP through their primary structure. Antimicrobial peptides show a great diversi...

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have been proposed as a promising new class of antimicrobials despite warnings that therapeutic use could drive the evolution of pathogens resistant to our own immunity peptides. Using experimental evolution, we demonstrate that Staphylococcus aureus rapidly evolved resistance to pexiganan, a drug-candidate for diabetic leg ulcer infections. Evolved resistance was ...

With growing concerns over multidrug resistance microorganisms, particularly strains of bacteria and fungi, evolving to become resistant to the antimicrobial agents used against them, the identification of new molecular targets becomes paramount for novel treatment options. Recently, the use of new treatments containing multiple active ingredients has been shown to increase the effectiveness of...

Antimicrobial peptides are a class of small, usually positively charged amphiphilic peptides that are used by the innate immune system to combat bacterial infection in multicellular eukaryotes. Antimicrobial peptides are known for their broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity and thus can be used as a basis for a development of new antibiotics against multidrug-resistant bacteria. The most challe...

In agreement with the current trend of giving value to natural and renewable resources, the use of natural antimicrobial compounds, particularly in food and biomedical applications, becomes very frequent. The direct addition of natural compounds to food is the most common method of application, even if numerous efforts have been made to find alternative solutions to the aim of avoiding undesira...

The constantly growing resistance of microbes to drugs and other substances which fight microbial infections leads to search for new antimicrobial substances. Among substances which attract the scientists attention are antimicrobial peptides. Such compounds are quite common in nature and belong to the most important elements of the innate immune system of all living organisms. Numerous antimicr...

The present study was taken up as an exploratory study to test if some natural dyes have inherent antimicrobial activity with a view to develop protective clothing from these. Four natural dyes Acacia catechu, Kerria lacca, Quercus infectoria, Rubia cordifolia and Rumex maritimus were tested against common pathogens Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus vulgaris an...

It was demonstrated that anthraquinone-rich extracts, obtained from the phototoxic vegetal species Heterophyllaea pustulata Hook f. (Rubiaceae), exhibited bacteriostatic activity on Micrococcus luteus ATCC 9341, selectively inhibiting both oxacillin-sensitive and resistant Staphylococcus aureus, and antifungal activity against important opportunist microorganisms and against those involved in s...

TB, caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is one the leading infectious diseases worldwide. There is an urgent need to discover new drugs with unique structures and uncommon mechanisms of action to treat M. tuberculosis and combat antimycobacterial resistance. Naturally occurring compounds contain a wide diversity of chemical structures, displaying a wide range of in vitro potency towards M. tu...