Novel microbial peptides called clavanins are of the formula[X'1X2B'3X4X5]U6B7X8X9B10B11X12U13Z14X15X16B*17U18X19U20B21X22X23(1)(SEQ ID NO:1)including the salts, esters, amides and acylated forms thereof wherein X is a hydrophobic amino acid residue or modified form thereof; X' is a small or a hydrophobic amino acid residue or a modified form thereof; B is a basic amino acid residue or modified form thereof; B' is basic or a polar/large amino acid residue or modified form thereof; and B* is a basic or a hydrophobic amino acid residue or a modified form thereof; U is a small amino acid residue or modified form thereof; Z is a polar/large amino acid residue or modified form thereof, and wherein 1-5 amino acids is deleted from the N-terminus.
