Bactericidal activity of magainin 2: use of lipopolysaccharide mutants.

Salmonella typhimurium and a series of rough lipopolysaccharide mutants derived from it were used as target bacteria to examine the antimicrobial capacity of magainin 2. Magainin 2 demonstrated a dose-related bactericidal activity against the smooth parent strain and the series of lipopolysaccharide mutants. The lipopolysaccharide mutant series showed an ordered increase in sensitivity to the magainin 2 as the depth of the rough lesion in the lipopolysaccharide increased.