Intragenic antimicrobial peptides from Theobroma cacao

Background It is well known that many bioactive peptides (intragenic) are encrypted in source proteins and that they can exert their function once released by proteolytic cleavage; e.g. hypotensive, opioids and antimicrobial peptides. However, other bioactive peptides may be “stuck” on a polipeptide chain with no cleavage sites for its release. These “non-obvious” intragenic peptides are also of interest in the search for new biologically active peptides, mainly antimicrobial peptides, in an alternative way for new drug discovery and for the control of different phytopathogens, mainly fungi, that can cause several losses to different crops of interest; e.g. rice, soybean, common bean, cocoa. In Brazil, Theobroma cacao production can be decimate by the basidiomycete Moniliophtora perniciosa, the causative agent of cocoa witch’s broom disease. In this report we present preliminary results of the search, synthesis and activity of intragenic antimicrobial peptides (IAPs) selected from Theobroma cacao genome.