China Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine ›› 2025, Vol. 52 ›› Issue (2): 934-945.doi: 10.16431/j.cnki.1671-7236.2025.02.042

• Basic Veterinary Medicine • Previous Articles    

Mechanism of Antibacterial Action of Antimicrobial Peptides and Their Application in Livestock and Poultry

GUO Jiajia1, NIE Jing1, QU Jiu2, Danzengzhandu2, LI Xiaowei3, JIANG Mingfeng1, LIU Yili1   

  1. 1. College of Animal & Veterinary Sciences, Southwest Minzu University, Chengdu 610041, China;
    2. Naqu Agriculture and Rural Bureau, Naqu 852000, China;
    3. Sichuan Longri Breeding Farm, Hongyuan 624400, China
  • Received:2024-05-27 Published:2025-01-24

Abstract: Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are a class of small peptides encoded by host genes with broad-spectrum bactericidal effects,and are important components of non-specific immunity in almost all organisms.There are many kinds of AMPs,which can be divided into antibacterial,antifungal,antiviral,antiparasitic,antitumor and other types according to their biological activities.AMPs are generally positively charged and amphiphilic,interacting with hydrophobic surfaces and membrane structures,breaking the integrity of the membrane and inhibiting the activity of intracellular nucleic acids and proteins,and exerting bacteriostatic effects on cell walls,cell membranes,intracellular and virus-related targets.Among the AMPs targeting cell membranes,relevant studies have proposed different cell membrane damage models such as barrel plate,ring hole,carpet,cohesion,etc.AMPs exhibit broad-spectrum bioactivities such as anti-bacterial,anti-fungal and anti-viral through different bactericidal mechanisms.AMPs have a broad application prospect due to their unique bactericidal mechanism.In the process of livestock and poultry breeding,AMPs as a kind of green feed additives, AMPs can increase the body weight of livestock and poultry,improve the number of intestinal beneficial bacteria,increase the content of immunoglobulin,and reduce the concentration of inflammatory factors,which play an important role in the production performance,intestinal flora,immunity and disease prevention of livestock and poultry,and is a good choice for the replacement of anti-products for the future development of the livestock and poultry industry.However,AMPs still have constraints such as the usage dosage has not been clarified,the cost of use is high,and the effect of combined use is not clear,etc.The authors summarized the mechanism of the bacteriostatic effect of AMPs and their application in livestock and poultry,and looked forward to the future development of them,with a view to providing a reference for the research and application of AMPs.

Key words: antimicrobial peptides; mechanism of action; production performance; intestinal flora; immunization; disease prevention and treatment

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