Bioinformatic analysis of antimicrobial peptides identified in the Black Soldier Fly (BSF) Hermetia illucens (Diptera: Stratiomyidae)

Antimicrobial and antineoplastic resistances represent two of the most urgent therapeutic worldwide challenges underlining the need to develop novel alternative treatments. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), small molecules ranging from 10 to 50 amino acids, play a key role in the innate immunity, the first line of defence against bacteria, fungi and viruses. They are promising molecules potentially lacking toxicity to healthy cells and unaffected by common mechanisms of resistance. Numerous insect-derived AMP have been reported in the literature and the Diptera Hermetia illucens is one of the most promising sources, since larvae thrive in hostile environments rich in microorganisms. To identify AMPs, we generated de novo transcriptome assemblies from larval and adult specimens. All sequences putatively encoding for AMPs were bioinformatically analyzed to predict their physico-chemical properties (by Antimicrobial Peptide Database Calculator and Predictor (APD3)) and their putative activity. AMPs were analysed on the CAMP database to predict their antimicrobial activity, and by iACP, the AVPpred and the Antifp servers to predict anticancer, antiviral and antifungal activities. These analyses allowed us to identify 57 putative active peptides. These preliminary results will allow the selection of the most promising candidates for heterologous expression/chemical synthesis to obtain peptides for in vitro studies.