Lacrain: the first antimicrobial peptide from the body extract of the Brazilian centipede Scolopendra viridicornis

•A new antimicrobial from the whole body extract of the Brazilian Chilopoda Scolopendra viridicornis is described.•Lacrain presents specific activity against Gram-negative bacteria.•Lacrain is a peptide with a sequence of 8 amino acid residues (RYPAVGYT) and a molecular mass of 925.5 Da.•This peptide does not show cytotoxic activity against human erythrocytes.•This new molecule is the first described peptide with antimicrobial activity from the body extract of a myriapod.

Antimicrobial activities have previously been described by traditional Eastern medicine in Chilopoda body extracts, but until now no bioactive peptides have been described. In this study, a novel antimicrobial peptide, lacrain, was isolated from the body extract of the Brazilian Chilopoda Scolopendra viridicornis. The peptide was isolated by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). Its activity was tested using a liquid growth inhibition assay and the peptide was characterised using mass spectrometry. Lacrain has a sequence composed of eight amino acid residues and a molecular mass of 925.5 Da. A synthetic peptide of the native lacrain had identical characteristics to those of the isolated material, confirming its sequence. The synthetic peptide was active only against Gram-negative bacteria, showing strong bactericidal activity. Moreover, the peptide did not present haemolytic activity against human erythrocytes. Lacrain represents a novel molecule with powerful antibacterial activity that could be used as a new template for the development of drugs against clinically resistant bacterial strains.