Fig. 8: Model diagram of the antifungal mechanism of AFPs.

The cell wall and the cell membrane (the two outer layers) are completely different cellular structures. Upon disrupting the cell wall barrier, AFPs significantly reduce the chitin content within the fungal cell wall. The Ch3 and Ch5 genes are responsible for chitin synthesis, which is critical for maintaining cell wall integrity. However, the calcium/Crz pathway confers resistance to AFPs. Following the reduction of chitin, AFPs are internalized into the fungal cell across the cell membrane phospholipid bilayer. The mechanism by which AFPs traverse the membrane requires further exploration. Ntp1 was identified as a novel intracellular effector protein for AFPs but is not present in human or bacterial genomes. The region spanning amino acids 417–588 of Ntp1 is essential for binding AFPs and mediating their antifungal effects on A. flavus. The next step of our research is to discover and identify more unknown AFPIPs. This figure was created using Microsoft PowerPoint 365, with design enhancements by Copilot and Figdraw.