Development of a Novel Short Synthetic Antibacterial Peptide Derived from the Swallowtail Butterfly Papilio xuthus Larvae

Several antibiotics are often used, sometimes in large amounts, for the treatment of infectious diseases in humans and farm animals However, most strains of pathogens have developed antibiotic resistance due to their use, and potential abuse Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are biologically active molecules frequently used for the treatment of pathogenic bacteria Most AMPs are produced by numerous organisms, as an essential component of their innate immune response AMPs may be applied to treat infections caused by various microbes, even drug-resistant strains, because they have distinctive antimicrobial mechanisms compared with traditional antibiotics Thus, the development of new, natural antimicrobial peptides, with bacterial cell selectivity (high antimicrobial activity without cytotoxicity), may be applied to treat the infections caused by drug-resistant microbes