1. New caerin antibacterial peptides from the skin glands of the Australian tree frog Litoria xanthomera
S T Steinborner, R J Waugh, J H Bowie, J C Wallace, M J Tyler, S L Ramsay J Pept Sci. 1997 May-Jun;3(3):181-5. doi: 10.1002/(sici)1099-1387(199705)3:33.0.co;2-k.
The secretion of the skin glands of the 'orange-thighed frog' Litoria xanthomera contains seven peptides. One of these is the know hypotensive peptide caerulein. Two new peptides, caerin 1.6 [GLFSVLGAVAKHVLPHVVPVIAEKL(NH2)], and caerin 1.7 [GLFKVLGSVAKHLLPHVAPVIAEKL(NH2)] show antibacterial properties. Two other peptides lack the first two amino acid residues of caerins 1.6 and 1.7 and show no antibacterial activity. The identification of the peptides in Litoria xanthomera confirms that this species is related to Litoria caerula, Litoria gilleni and Litoria splendida but not as closely as those three species are related to each other.
2. New caerin antibacterial peptides from the skin glands of the Australian tree frog Litoria xanthomera. Part 2. Sequence determination using mass spectrometry and associated techniques
S T Steinborner, R J Waugh, J H Bowie, M J Tyler Rapid Commun Mass Spectrom. 1997;11(9):997-1000. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1097-0231(19970615)11:93.0.CO;2-2.
Mass spectrometric sequencing, enzymic digestion and Edman degradation provide the structures of the two antimicrobial peptides from the skin glands of the Australian tree frog Litoria xanthomera as:- Gly Leu Phe Ser Val Leu Gly Ala Val Ala Lys His Val Leu Pro His Val Val Pro Val Ile Ala Glu Lys Leu (NH2) (caerin 1.6), and Gly Leu Phe Lys Val Leu Gly Ser Val Ala Lys His Leu Leu Pro His Val Ala Pro Val Ile Ala Glu Lys Leu (NH2) (caerin 1.7).
3. 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
S T Steinborner, G J Currie, J H Bowie, J C Wallace, M J Tyler J Pept Res. 1998 Feb;51(2):121-6. doi: 10.1111/j.1399-3011.1998.tb00629.x.
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 species 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 these species are more closely related to each other than to any other species of the genus Litoria that we have studied. A comparison is made of the antibiotic activities of nine members of the caerin 1 family of peptides isolated from tree frogs of the genus Litoria.
