A siderophore from a marine bacterium with an exceptional ferric ion affinity constant Journal Article
| Authors: | Reid, R. T.; Live, D. H.; Faulkner, D. J.; Butler, A. |
| Article Title: | A siderophore from a marine bacterium with an exceptional ferric ion affinity constant |
| Abstract: | VIRTUALLY all microorganisms require iron for growth. The paucity of iron in surface ocean water (∼0.02-1.0 nM (refs 1, 2)) has spurred a lively debate concerning iron limitation of primary productivity3-6, yet little is known about the molecular mechanisms used by marine microorganisms to sequester iron. Terrestrial bacteria use a siderophore-mediated ferric uptake system7. A sidero-phore is a low-molecular-mass compound with a high affinity for ferric ion which is secreted by microorganisms in response to low-iron environments; siderophore biosynthesis is regulated by iron levels, with repression by high iron. Although open-ocean marine microorganisms (such as phytoplankton8 and bacteria9) produce siderophores, the nature of these siderophores has not been investigated. We report here the first structure determination, to our knowledge, of the siderophores from an open-ocean bacterium, alterobactin A and B from Alteromonas luteoviolacea. A. luteoviol-acea is found in oligotrophic10 and coastal11 waters. Alterobactin A has an exceptionally high affinity constant for ferric ion. We suggest that at least some marine microorganisms may have developed higher-affinity iron chelators as part of an efficient iron-uptake mechanism which is more effective than that of their terrestrial counterparts. © 1993 Nature Publishing Group. |
| Keywords: | controlled study; unclassified drug; nonhuman; binding affinity; protein conformation; bacteria (microorganisms); amino acid sequence; molecular sequence data; iron; magnetic resonance spectroscopy; models, molecular; molecular structure; biochemistry; oligopeptides; ligand binding; peptides, cyclic; bacterium; chelation; complexation; ferric compounds; antibiotics; bacteria; siderophore; gram-negative aerobic bacteria; marine biology; priority journal; article; support, non-u.s. gov't; support, u.s. gov't, p.h.s.; support, u.s. gov't, non-p.h.s.; spectrometry, mass, fast atom bombardment; antibiotic iron chelators; ferric ion affinity constant; iron chelator molecular structure; iron sequestering microorganisms; marine bacterium siderophores; alterobactin a; alterobactin b; sea; siderophores; alteromonas; pseudoalteromonas luteoviolacea; uncultured marine bacterium |
| Journal Title: | Nature |
| Volume: | 366 |
| Issue: | 6454 |
| ISSN: | 0028-0836 |
| Publisher: | Nature Publishing Group |
| Date Published: | 1993-12-02 |
| Start Page: | 455 |
| End Page: | 458 |
| Language: | English |
| DOI: | 10.1038/366455a0 |
| PUBMED: | 8247152 |
| PROVIDER: | scopus |
| DOI/URL: | |
| Notes: | Article -- Export Date: 1 March 2019 -- Source: Scopus |
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