Identification of a histone derived, putative antimicrobial peptide Himanturin from round whip ray Himantura pastinacoides and its phylogenetic significance

Naveen Sathyan; Rosamma Philip; E R Chaithanya; P R Anil Kumar; Swapna P Antony

doi:10.1016/j.rinim.2012.06.001

Identification of a histone derived, putative antimicrobial peptide Himanturin from round whip ray Himantura pastinacoides and its phylogenetic significance

Results Immunol. 2012 Jun 26:2:120-4. doi: 10.1016/j.rinim.2012.06.001. eCollection 2012.

Authors

Naveen Sathyan¹, Rosamma Philip¹, E R Chaithanya¹, P R Anil Kumar¹, Swapna P Antony¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Marine Biology, Microbiology and Biochemistry, School of Marine Sciences, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Fine Arts Avenue, Kochi 682016, Kerala, India.

Abstract

Histone H2A participates in host defense responses by producing antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). The present study deals with identification of a putative antimicrobial sequence, Himanturin from the histone H2A of Round Whip Ray, Himantura pastinacoides. A 204 bp fragment encoding 68 amino acid residues was amplified from cDNA of Round Whip Ray, H. pastinacoides. Himanturin exhibited high similarity to previously reported histone H2A derived AMPs indicating the presence of an antimicrobial sequence motif. Physicochemical properties of Himanturin suggest it to be a potential antimicrobial candidate.

Keywords: Antimicrobial peptide; Elasmobranch; Himantura pastinacoides; Himanturin; Histone H2A.