Study of the antifungal mode of action of plant defensins.

Plant defensins are small, basic peptides with antimicrobial activity, which are part of the innate immunity of plants. Plant defensins induce membrane permeabilisation after an initial interaction with specific binding sites on the plasma membrane of susceptible fungi/yeast species. These binding sites were characterised as being complex sphingolipids. The current project will focus on a putative induction of apoptosis in susceptible yeast species by plantdefensins via quantification of intracellular ROS, chromosome breakage and phosphatidylserine flip-flop.

Keywords:Plant defensins

Disciplines:Microbiology, Systems biology, Laboratory medicine