Evaluation of Antibacterial Properties of Chimeric Bovine Lactoferrin Peptide for Inhibition of Food and Plant Pathogens

The resistance of microorganisms to conventional antibiotics has prompted researchers to produce new antimicrobial compounds. Antimicrobial peptides can be alternatives to chemical antibiotics. Antimicrobial peptides are produced approximately by all living organisms to fight infection. Lactoferrin is an iron glycoprotein that plays an important role in the immune system. Lactoferricin and lactoferrampine have stronger antimicrobial activities than lactoferrin. In this study, we investigated the inhibitory effects of a combination of chimeric bovine lactoferricin and lactoferrampine on microorganisms including Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhimurium, Enterococcus faecalis, and Listeria monocytogenes, as well as plant pathogens including Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae, Pseudomonas viridiflava, Xanthomonas translucens, Xanthomonas perforans, Erwinia amylovora, Pectobacterium carotovorum, and Agrobacterium tumefaciens. The results showed that chimeric bovine lactoferrin had a good inhibitory effect against pathogenic microorganisms and plant pathogens. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) for pathogenic microorganisms Salmonella typhimurium and Listeria monocytogenes were 7.562 µg/mL and 15.125 µg/mL, respectively, which showed the highest sensitivity to chimeric bovine lactoferrin. The MIC and MBC for plant pathogens were 0.497 µg/mL and 0.997 µg/mL, respectively, which were related to Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae and it showed the highest sensitivity to chimeric bovine lactoferrin.