• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.253-258
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• 2007

Bombycis corpus, a batryticated silkworm and white-stiff silkworm, is an oriental drug consisting of the dried larva of silkworm, dead and stiffened due to the infection of Beauveria. An peptidyl antimicrobial molecule was purified from B. corpus by reverse phase-column chromatography and HPLC. Its molecular weight was determined to be 2295.45 by using matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry. Its antimicrobial activity was diminished by trypsin digestion. It exhibited a broad antimicrobial spectrum against not only Gram-negative, but also Gram- positive bacteria. Furthermore, it was found to have an antimicrobial activity against vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE), methicillin-resistant S. arureus (MRSA), and vancomycin-intermediate resistant S. arureus (VISA). It may be a useful molecule for a new antibiotic development, especially against antibiotic resistant microbe. This substance may play a role in the defense system of this animal against Beauveria bassiana. This is the first report of a peptidyl antimicrobial substance from B. corpus.