Natural compounds, such as antimicrobial peptides, have been potentially considered as sources of defense agents against commercially relevant phytopathogens. This work aimed to obtain peptide-enriched fractions from eggplant leaf protein extracts in order to evaluate their antimicrobial activities against two phytopathogenic bacteria. The resulting cationic pools, PC1 and PC2, and the anionic PA pool from leaf soluble (ES) and cell wall (EP) extracts were analyzed in two concentrations. For ES and EP, growth inhibition of Ralstonia solanacearum and Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. michiganensis was higher than 60%, being PC2-2X (higher evaluated concentration) fraction the most effective. These results suggest that eggplant leaf extracts contain peptides with potential use as plant defense agents.
Antimicrobial peptide; solanaceous; plant defense
