NEW ANTIBIOTIC CAERIN-1 PEPTIDES FROM THE SKIN SECRETION OF THE AUSTRALIAN TREE FROG LITORIA-CHLORIS - COMPARISON OF THE ACTIVITIES OF THE CAERIN-1 PEPTIDES FROM THE GENUS LITORIA

The skin glands of the tree frog Litoria chloris contain a variety of peptides including four antibacterial peptides of the caerin 1 family. Two of these, caerins 1.6 and 1.7, are also present in the related sp ecies Litoria xanthomera. The other two peptides, caerins 1.8 and 1.9, are new. Their sequences are: GLFKVLGSVAKHLLPHVVPVIAEKL-NH2 [Caerin 1 .8] and GLFGVLGSIAKHVLPHVVPVIAEKL-NH2 [Caerin 1.9]. Comparison of the skin peptide profiles of L. chloris and L. xanthomera confirms that th ese species are more closely related to each other than to any other s pecies of the genus Litoria that we have studied. A comparison is made of the antibiotic activities of nine members of the caerin 1 family o f peptides isolated from tree frogs of the genus Litoria. (C) Munksgaa rd 1998.