M. Toerker, M. WieczorekFraunhofer FEPWinterbergstraße 28, 01277 Dresden, GermanyL. Lopez Sanchez, P. PellacaniPlasmore s.r.lViale Vittorio Emanuele II 4, Pavia 27100, ItalyC. GiacomelliKODE s.r.l.Lungarno Galileo Galilei 1, Pisa 56100, ItalyA. Elferink, J. PetersWageningen Food Safety Research - Wageningen University andResearchAkkermaalsbos 2, Wageningen 6708 WB, The NetherlandsA. MorschhauserFraunhofer ENASTechnologie - Campus 3, 09126 Chemnitz, German

Antimicrobial resistance is a major public health concern worldwide. Albeit to a lesser extent than bacteria, fungi are also becoming increasingly resistant to antifungal drugs. Moreover, due to the small number of antifungal classes, therapy options are limited, complicating the clinical management of mycoses. In this view, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are a potential alternative to conventional drugs. Among these, Proline-rich antimicrobial peptides (PrAMPs), almost exclusively of animal origins, are of particular interest due to their peculiar mode of action. In this study, a search for new arginine- and proline-rich peptides from plants has been carried out with a bioinformatic approach by sequence alignment and antimicrobial prediction tools. Two peptide candidates were tested against planktonic cells and biofilms of Candida albicans and Candida glabrata strains, including resistant isolates. These peptides showed similar potent activity, with half-maximal effective concentration values in the micromolar range. In addition, some structural and functional features, revealing peculiar mechanistic behaviors, were investigated.