Antimicrobial peptides: An important link in the game theory between plants and pathogens

Abstract

Background

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are peptides produced by organisms during the evolutionary process to defend themselves against external biotic stresses. Broadly speaking, AMP is a generic term for peptides evolved by the natural immune defense system of an organism to protect against external pathogens. AMPs are a variety of naturally occurring molecules that are important lines of defense for plants. After that, the ability of AMPs to protect the host’s health was found in almost all multicellular organisms. This indicates that microorganisms and plants are important sources of AMPs. AMPs are among the most important components maintaining plant health and can be applied as a booster, providing instant and long-lasting resistance against pathogens.

Aim of review

As critical components of natural immune systems, AMPs serve as primary defense lines in plants and multicellular organisms, highlighting their significance in maintaining host health. However, natural AMPs face limitations in stability and efficacy for agricultural applications. To bridge this gap, this review aims to advance AMP development through synthetic and computational strategies. This thematic review shows the improvement of AMPs from the perspective of synthetic chemistry and AMP optimization strategies. This paper also discusses current databases and websites of AMPs as well as optimization strategies for artificial intelligence algorithms for novel AMP development.

Key scientific concepts of review

In modern agricultural settings, the application of AMPs can promote the growth of plants under unfavorable environmental conditions and prevent severe phytopathogens, which is a very effective method for plant protection. The increased doses of chemicals harm the environment due to their toxic residues. AMPs can also be used in the cross-protection of crops. The application of AMPs to infected crops can activate the immune system of plants and increase their ability to suppress phytopathogens by increasing their resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. Using sequencing technology, bioinformatics, molecular biology, and synthetic proteomics, highly effective and stable AMPs were obtained, and related optimization strategies were developed. The use of AMPs to control phytopathogenic diseases not only provides more ecological management strategies than the use of probiotics but also ensures the constant characteristics of AMPs.