Bioprospection of Cationic and Anionic Antimicrobial Peptides from Bell Pepper Leaves for Inhibition of Ralstonia solanacearum and Clavibacter michiganensis ssp. michiganensis Growth

Bioprospection of natural compounds to be used as plant protection offers exciting possibilities in agribusiness. 'Samara' (SM) and 'Sunshine' (SH) cultivars of bell pepper are resistant against some plant pathogens, and leaf antimicrobial peptides could account for their defence system. In the present study, 5-7 kDa peptides were partially purified from cell wall extract (CWE) of bell pepper leaves and further resolved by ion-exchange chromatography. The cationic and anionic peptide-enriched fractions from both SM-CWE and SH-CWE strongly inhibited in vitro growth of Ralstonia solanacearum and Clavibacter michiganensis ssp. michiganensis.