Varnava Kyriakos G, Ronimus Ron S, Sarojini Vijayalekshmi
School of Chemical Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
Rumen Microbiology, AgResearch Ltd., Palmerston North, New Zealand.
Biotechnol Bioeng. 2017 Nov;114(11):2457-2473. doi: 10.1002/bit.26387. Epub 2017 Aug 17.
Archaea was until recently considered as a third domain of life in addition to bacteria and eukarya but recent studies support the existence of only two superphyla (bacteria and archaea). The fundamental differences between archaeal, bacterial, and eukaryal cells are probably the main reasons for the comparatively lower susceptibility of archaeal strains to current antimicrobial agents. The possible emerging pathogenicity of archaea and the role of archaeal methanogens in methane emissions, a potent greenhouse gas, has led many researchers to examine the sensitivity patterns of archaea and make attempts to find agents that have significant anti-archaeal activity. Even though antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are well known with several published reviews concerning their mode of action against bacteria and eukarya, to our knowledge, to date no reviews are available that focus on the action of these peptides against archaea. Herein, we present a review on all the peptides that have been tested against archaea. In addition, in an attempt to shed more light on possible future work that needs to be performed we have included a brief overview of the chemical characteristics, spectrum of activity, and the known mechanism of action of each of these peptides against bacteria and/or fungi. We also discuss the nature of and key physiological differences between Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukarya that are relevant to the development of anti-archaeal peptides. Despite our relatively limited knowledge about archaea, available data suggest that AMPs have an even broader spectrum of activity than currently recognized.
直到最近，古菌还被认为是除细菌和真核生物之外的第三个生命域，但最近的研究支持仅存在两个超群（细菌和古菌）。古菌、细菌和真核生物细胞之间的根本差异可能是古菌菌株对当前抗菌剂敏感性相对较低的主要原因。古菌可能出现的致病性以及古菌产甲烷菌在甲烷排放（一种强大的温室气体）中的作用，促使许多研究人员研究古菌的敏感性模式，并试图找到具有显著抗古菌活性的药物。尽管抗菌肽（AMPs）广为人知，并且有几篇已发表的综述涉及它们对细菌和真核生物的作用模式，但据我们所知，迄今为止还没有专注于这些肽对古菌作用的综述。在此，我们对所有已测试抗古菌活性的肽进行综述。此外，为了更清楚地了解可能需要开展的未来工作，我们简要概述了每种肽的化学特性、活性谱以及它们对细菌和/或真菌的已知作用机制。我们还讨论了与抗古菌肽开发相关的古菌、细菌和真核生物的本质及关键生理差异。尽管我们对古菌的了解相对有限，但现有数据表明抗菌肽的活性谱比目前所认识的更广泛。
