{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"institution":[{"name":"bioRxiv"}],"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,15]],"date-time":"2026-01-15T20:05:24Z","timestamp":1768507524483,"version":"3.49.0"},"posted":{"date-parts":[[2023,8,27]]},"group-title":"Microbiology","reference-count":35,"publisher":"openRxiv","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2023,8,27]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>\n                  Antimicrobial peptide resistance has been proposed to play a major role in the flea-borne transmission of\n                  <jats:italic>Yersinia pestis<\/jats:italic>\n                  . However, the antimicrobial peptide response in fleas and their interaction with\n                  <jats:italic>Y. pestis<\/jats:italic>\n                  is largely unknown. Attacins are one of the most abundantly expressed antimicrobial peptides within the first hours after\n                  <jats:italic>Y. pestis<\/jats:italic>\n                  infection of\n                  <jats:italic>Xenopsylla cheopis<\/jats:italic>\n                  , a major vector of plague. In this study, we report the cloning, expression, and purification of two\n                  <jats:italic>X. cheopis<\/jats:italic>\n                  attacin peptides and describe their interactions with and antimicrobial activities against\n                  <jats:italic>Y. pestis<\/jats:italic>\n                  . These flea attacins were shown to bind lipopolysaccharides and have potent activity against\n                  <jats:italic>Y. pestis<\/jats:italic>\n                  , however the mechanism of killing does not involve extensive membrane damage. Treatment with attacins rapidly inhibits\n                  <jats:italic>Y. pestis<\/jats:italic>\n                  colony formation and results in oxidative stress, yet live-cell imaging revealed that bacteria continue to grow and divide for several hours in the presence of attacins before undergoing morphological changes and subsequent lysis. This data provides insights into an early battle between vector and pathogen that may impact transmission of one of the most virulent diseases known to man.\n                <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1101\/2023.08.26.554949","type":"posted-content","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,8,28]],"date-time":"2023-08-28T01:15:18Z","timestamp":1693185318000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Antibacterial activity of\n                  <i>Xenopsylla cheopis<\/i>\n                  attacins against\n                  <i>Yersinia pestis<\/i>"],"prefix":"10.64898","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8230-8089","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Basil","family":"Mathew","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0007-8330-9415","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kari L","family":"Aoyagi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mark A.","family":"Fisher","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"54368","reference":[{"key":"2023083021200868000_2023.08.26.554949v1.1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev.ento.50.071803.130337"},{"key":"2023083021200868000_2023.08.26.554949v1.2","first-page":"210","volume":"11","year":"2021","journal-title":"Molecular and Genetic Mechanisms That Mediate Transmission of Yersinia pestis by Fleas"},{"key":"2023083021200868000_2023.08.26.554949v1.3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1099\/mic.0.000018"},{"key":"2023083021200868000_2023.08.26.554949v1.4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.ppat.1000783"},{"key":"2023083021200868000_2023.08.26.554949v1.5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1058","DOI":"10.4269\/ajtmh.1956.5.1058","article-title":"Studies on Pasteurella pestis in fleas. 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The experimental plague-vector efficiency of wild rodent fleas compared with Xenopsylla cheopis, together with observations on the influence of temperature","volume":"5","year":"1956","journal-title":"Am J Trop Med Hyg"},{"key":"2023083021200868000_2023.08.26.554949v1.6","first-page":"681","article-title":"Studies on Pasteurella pestis in fleas, comparative plague-vector efficiency of Xenopsylla vexabilis hawaiiensis and Xenopsylla cheopis","volume":"14","year":"1956","journal-title":"Bull World Health Organ"},{"key":"2023083021200868000_2023.08.26.554949v1.7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2536","DOI":"10.1021\/acsinfecdis.1c00275","article-title":"Yersinia pestis lipopolysaccharide remodeling confers resistance to a Xenopsylla cheopis cecropin","volume":"7","year":"2021","journal-title":"ACS Infect Dis"},{"key":"2023083021200868000_2023.08.26.554949v1.8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"76","DOI":"10.1016\/j.dci.2019.03.019","article-title":"Immunity of fleas (Order Siphonaptera)","volume":"98","year":"2019","journal-title":"Dev Comp Immunol"},{"key":"2023083021200868000_2023.08.26.554949v1.9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"70","DOI":"10.1186\/s12915-020-00802-7","article-title":"A chromosome-level assembly of the cat flea genome uncovers rampant gene duplication and genome size plasticity","volume":"18","year":"2020","journal-title":"BMC Biology"},{"key":"2023083021200868000_2023.08.26.554949v1.10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e0008688","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0008688","article-title":"Transcriptomic profiling of the digestive tract of the rat flea, Xenopsylla cheopis, following blood feeding and infection with Yersinia pestis","volume":"14","year":"2020","journal-title":"PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases"},{"key":"2023083021200868000_2023.08.26.554949v1.11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"377","DOI":"10.1111\/1755-0998.12482","article-title":"Genomic resources notes accepted 1 August 2015 \u2013 31 September 2015","volume":"16","year":"2016","journal-title":"Molecular Ecology Resources"},{"key":"2023083021200868000_2023.08.26.554949v1.12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/1471-2164-8-102"},{"key":"2023083021200868000_2023.08.26.554949v1.13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"46","DOI":"10.32607\/20758251-2012-4-3-46-58","article-title":"Lipopolysaccharide of Yersinia pestis, the Cause of Plague: Structure, Genetics, Biological Properties","volume":"4","year":"2012","journal-title":"Acta Naturae"},{"key":"2023083021200868000_2023.08.26.554949v1.14","first-page":"18","article-title":"Mechanisms of Antimicrobial Peptide Resistance in Gram-Negative Bacteria","volume":"4","year":"2015","journal-title":"Antibiotics (Basel)"},{"key":"2023083021200868000_2023.08.26.554949v1.15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1128\/JB.06237-11"},{"key":"2023083021200868000_2023.08.26.554949v1.16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1128\/IAI.73.11.7324-7331.2005"},{"key":"2023083021200868000_2023.08.26.554949v1.17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1128\/JB.188.4.1381-1388.2006"},{"key":"2023083021200868000_2023.08.26.554949v1.18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1046\/j.1365-2958.2002.02990.x"},{"key":"2023083021200868000_2023.08.26.554949v1.19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.micpath.2011.04.010"},{"key":"2023083021200868000_2023.08.26.554949v1.20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"571","DOI":"10.1002\/j.1460-2075.1983.tb01465.x","article-title":"Insect immunity. 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