Antibacterial and antimalarial properties of peptides that are cecropin‐melittin hybrids

Solid phase synthesis was used to produce 5 hybrid peptides containing sequences from the antibacterial peptide, cecropin A, and from the bee venom toxin, melittin. Four of these chimeric peptides showed good antibacterial activity against representative Gram‐negative and Gram‐positive bacterial species. The best hybrid, cecropin A(1–13)‐melittin(1–13) was 100‐fold more active than cecropin A against Staphylococcus aureus. It was also a 10‐fold better antimalarial agent than cecropin B or magainin 2. Sheep red cells were lysed by melittin at low concentrations, but not by the hybrid molecules, even at 50 times higher concentrations.