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Shankar G, Akhter Y. Stealing survival: Iron acquisition strategies of Mycobacteriumtuberculosis. Biochimie 2024:S0300-9084(24)00142-1. [PMID: 38901792 DOI: 10.1016/j.biochi.2024.06.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2024] [Revised: 06/07/2024] [Accepted: 06/18/2024] [Indexed: 06/22/2024]
Abstract
Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the causative agent of tuberculosis (TB), faces iron scarcity within the host due to immune defenses. This review explores the importance of iron for Mtb and its strategies to overcome iron restriction. We discuss how the host limits iron as an innate immune response and how Mtb utilizes various iron acquisition systems, particularly the siderophore-mediated pathway. The review illustrates the structure and biosynthesis of mycobactin, a key siderophore in Mtb, and the regulation of its production. We explore the potential of targeting siderophore biosynthesis and uptake as a novel therapeutic approach for TB. Finally, we summarize current knowledge on Mtb's iron acquisition and highlight promising directions for future research to exploit this pathway for developing new TB interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gauri Shankar
- Department of Biotechnology, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Vidya Vihar, Raebareli Road, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, 226 025, India
| | - Yusuf Akhter
- Department of Biotechnology, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Vidya Vihar, Raebareli Road, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, 226 025, India.
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Patil RH, Luptáková D, Havlíček V. Infection metallomics for critical care in the post-COVID era. MASS SPECTROMETRY REVIEWS 2023; 42:1221-1243. [PMID: 34854486 DOI: 10.1002/mas.21755] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2021] [Revised: 07/15/2021] [Accepted: 07/15/2021] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Infection metallomics is a mass spectrometry (MS) platform we established based on the central concept that microbial metallophores are specific, sensitive, noninvasive, and promising biomarkers of invasive infectious diseases. Here we review the in vitro, in vivo, and clinical applications of metallophores from historical and functional perspectives, and identify under-studied and emerging application areas with high diagnostic potential for the post-COVID era. MS with isotope data filtering is fundamental to infection metallomics; it has been used to study the interplay between "frenemies" in hosts and to monitor the dynamic response of the microbiome to antibiotic and antimycotic therapies. During infection in critically ill patients, the hostile environment of the host's body activates secondary bacterial, mycobacterial, and fungal metabolism, leading to the production of metallophores that increase the pathogen's chance of survival in the host. MS can reveal the structures, stability, and threshold concentrations of these metal-containing microbial biomarkers of infection in humans and model organisms, and can discriminate invasive disease from benign colonization based on well-defined thresholds distinguishing proliferation from the colonization steady state.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rutuja H Patil
- Institute of Microbiology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czechia
- Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Palacký University, Olomouc, Czechia
| | - Dominika Luptáková
- Institute of Microbiology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czechia
| | - Vladimír Havlíček
- Institute of Microbiology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czechia
- Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Palacký University, Olomouc, Czechia
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Shyam M, Shilkar D, Rakshit G, Jayaprakash V. Approaches for Targeting the Mycobactin Biosynthesis Pathway for Novel Anti-tubercular Drug Discovery: Where We Stand. Expert Opin Drug Discov 2022; 17:699-715. [PMID: 35575503 DOI: 10.1080/17460441.2022.2077328] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Several decades of antitubercular drug discovery efforts have focused on novel antitubercular chemotherapies. However, recent efforts have greatly shifted towards countering extremely/multi/total drug-resistant species. Targeting the conditionally essential elements inside Mycobacterium is a relatively new approach against tuberculosis and has received lackluster attention. The siderophore, Mycobactin, is a conditionally essential molecule expressed by mycobacteria in iron-stress conditions. It helps capture the micronutrient iron, essential for the smooth functioning of cellular processes. AREAS COVERED The authors discuss opportunities to target the conditionally essential pathways to help develop newer drugs and prolong the shelf life of existing therapeutics, emphasizing the bottlenecks in fast-tracking antitubercular drug discovery. EXPERT OPINION While the lack of iron supply can cripple bacterial growth and multiplication, excess iron can cause oxidative overload. Constant up-regulation can strain the bacterial synthetic machinery, further slowing its growth. Mycobactin synthesis is tightly controlled by a genetically conserved mega enzyme family via up-regulation (HupB) or down-regulation (IdeR) based on iron availability in its microenvironment. Furthermore, the recycling of siderophores by the MmpL-MmpS4/5 orchestra provides endogenous drug targets to beat the bugs with iron-toxicity contrivance. These processes can be exploited as chinks in the armor of Mycobacterium and be used for new drug development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mousumi Shyam
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences & Technology, Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi, Jharkhand, India
| | - Deepak Shilkar
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences & Technology, Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi, Jharkhand, India
| | - Gourav Rakshit
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences & Technology, Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi, Jharkhand, India
| | - Venkatesan Jayaprakash
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences & Technology, Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi, Jharkhand, India
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Alenkina I, Oshtrakh M, Tugarova A, Biró B, Semionkin V, Kamnev A. Study of the rhizobacterium Azospirillum brasilense Sp245 using Mössbauer spectroscopy with a high velocity resolution: Implication for the analysis of ferritin-like iron cores. J Mol Struct 2014. [DOI: 10.1016/j.molstruc.2014.04.084] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Abstract
Siderophores are compounds produced by bacteria, fungi and graminaceous plants for scavenging iron from the environment. They are low-molecular-weight compounds (500-1500 daltons) possessing a high affinity for iron(III) (Kf > 1030), the biosynthesis of which is regulated by iron levels and the function of which is to supply iron to the cell. This article briefly describes the classification and chemical properties of siderophores, before outlining research on siderophore biosynthesis and transport. Clinically important siderophores and the therapeutic potential of siderophore design are described. Appendix 1 provides a comprehensive list of siderophore structures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert C Hider
- Division of Pharmaceutical Science, King's College, London, SE1 9NH, UK.
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Morton DJ, Turman EJ, Hensley PD, VanWagoner TM, Seale TW, Whitby PW, Stull TL. Identification of a siderophore utilization locus in nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae. BMC Microbiol 2010; 10:113. [PMID: 20398325 PMCID: PMC2859871 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2180-10-113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2009] [Accepted: 04/15/2010] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Haemophilus influenzae has an absolute aerobic growth requirement for either heme, or iron in the presence of protoporphyrin IX. Both iron and heme in the mammalian host are strictly limited in their availability to invading microorganisms. Many bacterial species overcome iron limitation in their environment by the synthesis and secretion of small iron binding molecules termed siderophores, which bind iron and deliver it into the bacterial cell via specific siderophore receptor proteins on the bacterial cell surface. There are currently no reports of siderophore production or utilization by H. influenzae. RESULTS Comparative genomics revealed a putative four gene operon in the recently sequenced nontypeable H. influenzae strain R2846 that encodes predicted proteins exhibiting significant identity at the amino acid level to proteins involved in the utilization of the siderophore ferrichrome in other bacterial species. No siderophore biosynthesis genes were identified in the R2846 genome. Both comparative genomics and a PCR based analysis identified several additional H. influenzae strains possessing this operon. In growth curve assays strains containing the genes were able to utilize ferrichrome as an iron source. H. influenzae strains lacking the operon were unable to obtain iron from ferrichrome. An insertional mutation in one gene of the operon abrogated the ability of strains to utilize ferrichrome. In addition transcription of genes in the identified operon were repressible by high iron/heme levels in the growth media. CONCLUSIONS We have identified an iron/heme-repressible siderophore utilization locus present in several nontypeable H. influenzae strains. The same strains do not possess genes encoding proteins associated with siderophore synthesis. The siderophore utilization locus may enable the utilization of siderophores produced by other microorganisms in the polymicrobial environmental niche of the human nasopharynx colonized by H. influenzae. This is the first report of siderophore utilization by H. influenzae.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel J Morton
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, 73104, USA
| | - Elizabeth J Turman
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, 73104, USA
| | - Patrick D Hensley
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, 73104, USA
| | - Timothy M VanWagoner
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, 73104, USA
- Department of Biology, Oklahoma Christian University, Oklahoma City, OK 73136, USA
| | - Thomas W Seale
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, 73104, USA
| | - Paul W Whitby
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, 73104, USA
| | - Terrence L Stull
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, 73104, USA
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, 73104, USA
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Hoette TM, Abergel RJ, Xu J, Strong RK, Raymond KN. The role of electrostatics in siderophore recognition by the immunoprotein Siderocalin. J Am Chem Soc 2009; 130:17584-92. [PMID: 19053425 DOI: 10.1021/ja8074665] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Iron is required for virulence of most bacterial pathogens, many of which rely on siderophores, small-molecule chelators, to scavenge iron in mammalian hosts. As an immune response, the human protein Siderocalin binds both apo and ferric siderophores in order to intercept delivery of iron to the bacterium, impeding virulence. The introduction of steric clashes into the siderophore structure is an important mechanism of evading sequestration. However, in the absence of steric incompatibilities, electrostatic interactions determine siderophore strength of binding by Siderocalin. By using a series of isosteric enterobactin analogues, the contribution of electrostatic interactions, including both charge-charge and cation-pi, to the recognition of 2,3-catecholate siderophores has been deconvoluted. The analogues used in the study incorporate a systematic combination of 2,3-catecholamide (CAM) and N-hydroxypyridinonate (1,2-HOPO) binding units on a tris(2-aminoethyl)amine (tren) backbone, [tren(CAM)(m)(1,2-HOPO)(n), where m = 0, 1, 2, or 3 and n = 3 - m]. The shape complementarity of the synthetic analogue series was determined through small-molecule crystallography, and the binding interactions were investigated through a fluorescence-based binding assay. These results were modeled and correlated through ab initio calculations of the electrostatic properties of the binding units. Although all the analogues are accommodated in the binding pocket of Siderocalin, the ferric complexes incorporating decreasing numbers of CAM units are bound with decreasing affinities (K(d) = >600, 43, 0.8, and 0.3 nM for m = 0-3). These results elucidate the role of electrostatics in the mechanism of siderophore recognition by Siderocalin.
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Affiliation(s)
- Trisha M Hoette
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-1460, USA
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Noordman WH, Reissbrodt R, Bongers RS, Rademaker JLW, Bockelmann W, Smit G. Growth stimulation of Brevibacterium sp. by siderophores. J Appl Microbiol 2007; 101:637-46. [PMID: 16907814 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2672.2006.02928.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
AIMS To assess which types of siderophores are typically produced by Brevibacterium and how siderophore production and utilization traits are distributed within this genus. METHODS AND RESULTS During co-cultivation experiments it was found that growth of B. linens Br5 was stimulated by B. linens NIZO B1410 by two orders of magnitude. The stimulation was caused by the production of hydroxamate siderophores by B. linens NIZO B1410 that enabled the siderophore-auxotrophic strain Br5 to grow faster under the applied iron-limited growth conditions. Different patterns of siderophore production and utilization were observed within the genus Brevibacterium. These patterns did not reflect the phylogenetic relations within the group as determined by partial 16S rDNA sequencing. Most Brevibacterium strains were found to utilize hydroxamate siderophores. CONCLUSIONS Brevibacteria can produce and utilize siderophores although certain strains within this genus are siderophore-auxotrophic. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY It is reported for the first time that brevibacteria produce and utilize siderophores. This knowledge can be utilized to stimulate growth of auxotrophic strains under certain conditions. Enhancing the growth rate of Brevibacterium is of importance for the application of this species, for example, for cheese manufacturing or for industrial production of enzymes or metabolites.
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Rodriguez GM, Gardner R, Kaur N, Phanstiel O. Utilization of Fe3+-acinetoferrin analogs as an iron source by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Biometals 2007; 21:93-103. [PMID: 17401548 DOI: 10.1007/s10534-007-9096-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2006] [Accepted: 03/05/2007] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of human tuberculosis, synthesizes and secretes siderophores in order to compete for iron (an essential micronutrient). Successful iron acquisition allows M. tuberculosis to survive and proliferate under the iron-deficient conditions encountered in the host. To examine structural determinants important for iron siderophore transport in this pathogen, the citrate-based siderophores petrobactin, acinetoferrin and various acinetoferrin homologs were synthesized and used as iron transport probes. Mutant strains of M. tuberculosis deficient in native siderophore synthesis or transport were utilized to better understand the mechanisms involved in iron delivery via the synthetic siderophores. Acinetoferrin and its derivatives, especially those containing a cyclic imide group, were able to deliver iron or gallium into M. tuberculosis which promoted or inhibited, respectively, the growth of this pathogen.
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Affiliation(s)
- G Marcela Rodriguez
- The Public Health Research Institute at the International Center for Public Health, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, 225 Warren Street, Newark, NJ 07103-3535, USA.
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Hubmacher D, Matzanke BF, Anemüller S. Iron-uptake in the Euryarchaeon Halobacterium salinarum. Biometals 2007; 20:539-47. [PMID: 17242866 DOI: 10.1007/s10534-006-9064-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2006] [Accepted: 11/28/2006] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Iron-uptake is well studied in a plethora of pro- and eukaryotic organisms with the exception of Archaea, which thrive mainly in extreme environments. In this study, the mechanism of iron transport in the extremely halophilic Euryarchaeon Halobacterium salinarum strain JW 5 was analyzed. Under low-iron growth conditions no siderophores were detectable in culture supernatants. However, various xenosiderophores support growth of H. salinarum. In [55Fe]-[14C] double-label experiments, H. salinarum displays uptake of iron but not of the chelator citrate. Uptake of iron was inhibited by cyanide and at higher concentrations by Ga. Furthermore, a K(M) for iron uptake in cells of 2.36 microM and a Vmax of approximately 67 pmol Fe/min/mg protein was determined. [55Fe]-uptake kinetics were measured in the absence and presence of Ga. Uptake of iron was inhibited merely at very high Ga concentrations. The results indicate an energy dependent iron uptake process in H. salinarum and suggest reduction of the metal at the membrane level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dirk Hubmacher
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, McGill University of Montreal, 3640 University Street, Montreal, QC, Canada H3A 2B2
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11
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LaMarca BBD, Zhu W, Arceneaux JEL, Byers BR, Lundrigan MD. Participation of fad and mbt genes in synthesis of mycobactin in Mycobacterium smegmatis. J Bacteriol 2004; 186:374-82. [PMID: 14702306 PMCID: PMC305775 DOI: 10.1128/jb.186.2.374-382.2004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Colonies of Mycobacterium smegmatis LR222 on iron-limiting (0.1 micro M Fe) minimal medium agar fluoresce under UV light due to the accumulation in the cells of the deferri form of the siderophore mycobactin. Two mutants with little or no fluorescence, designated LUN8 and LUN9, were isolated by screening colonies of transposon (Tn611)-mutagenized M. smegmatis. Ferrimycobactin prepared from iron-restricted cells of the wild type had an R(f) of 0.62 on high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) and a characteristic visible absorption spectrum with a peak near 450 nm. Similar extracts from LUN8 cells contained a small amount of ferrimycobactin with an R(f) of 0.58 on HPTLC and an absorption spectrum with the peak shifted to a wavelength lower than that of the wild-type ferrimycobactin. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy studies suggested that the LUN8 mycobactin may have an altered fatty acid side chain. Mutant strain LUN9 produced no detectable mycobactin. Neither mutant strain produced measurable amounts of excreted mycobactin, although both excreted exochelin (the mycobacterial peptido-hydroxamate siderophore), and both mutants were more sensitive than the wild-type strain to growth inhibition by the iron chelator ethylenediamine-di(o-hydroxyphenylacetic acid). The transposon insertion sites were identified, and sequence analyses of the cloned flanking chromosome regions showed that the mutated gene in LUN9 was an orthologue of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis mycobactin biosynthetic gene mbtE. The mutated gene in LUN8 had homology with M. tuberculosis fadD33 (Rv1345), a gene that may encode an acyl-coenzyme A synthase and which previously was not known to participate in synthesis of mycobactin.
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Affiliation(s)
- B Babbette D LaMarca
- Department of Microbiology, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, Mississippi 39216-4505, USA
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Schumann G, Möllmann U. Screening system for xenosiderophores as potential drug delivery agents in mycobacteria. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2001; 45:1317-22. [PMID: 11302790 PMCID: PMC90468 DOI: 10.1128/aac.45.5.1317-1322.2001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
In order to establish a screening system for xenosiderophores which can be utilized by mycobacteria, we generated a set of mutants of Mycobacterium smegmatis that are blocked in different steps of the well-known iron acquisition system. One mutant with a block in mycobactin biosynthesis was generated from strain mc(2)155 by chemical mutagenesis. The exochelin biosynthesis gene fxbA and the ferric exochelin uptake gene fxuA, previously identified by Fiss et al. (E. H. Fiss, S. Yu, and W. R. Jacobs, Jr., Mol. Microbiol. 14:557-559, 1994), were knocked out by gene replacement. Adjacent chromosomal fragments were used for homologous recombination in order to replace wild-type genes by the kanamycin resistance gene from transposon Tn903. Gene replacement was confirmed by PCR. The isolated mutants show the expected phenotype: fxbA mutants are defective in exochelin biosynthesis, whereas fxuA mutants excrete a significantly larger amount of exochelin compared to the amount excreted by the parent strain. This is due to their defectiveness in ferriexochelin uptake, as demonstrated in growth promotion assays. This new set of mutants allows differentiation of siderophores that supply mycobacteria with iron by ligand exchange with exochelin or mycobactin, by the use of separate siderophore uptake routes, or by the use of the exochelin permease. All these types of iron uptake routes were identified with 25 exogenous siderophores as test substances. Siderophores that act without ligand exchange are potential candidates as drug vectors that can be used to overcome permeability-mediated resistance.
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Affiliation(s)
- G Schumann
- Department of Infection Biology, Hans-Knöll-Institut für Naturstoff-Forschung e.V., D-07708 Jena, Germany
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Abstract
The ability of pathogens to obtain iron from transferrins, ferritin, hemoglobin, and other iron-containing proteins of their host is central to whether they live or die. To combat invading bacteria, animals go into an iron-withholding mode and also use a protein (Nramp1) to generate reactive oxygen species in an attempt to kill the pathogens. Some invading bacteria respond by producing specific iron chelators-siderophores-that remove the iron from the host sources. Other bacteria rely on direct contact with host iron proteins, either abstracting the iron at their surface or, as with heme, taking it up into the cytoplasm. The expression of a large number of genes (>40 in some cases) is directly controlled by the prevailing intracellular concentration of Fe(II) via its complexing to a regulatory protein (the Fur protein or equivalent). In this way, the biochemistry of the bacterial cell can accommodate the challenges from the host. Agents that interfere with bacterial iron metabolism may prove extremely valuable for chemotherapy of diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- C Ratledge
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Hull, Hull HU6 7RX.
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Affiliation(s)
- J J De Voss
- Department of Chemistry, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 4072
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15
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Zhu W, Arceneaux JE, Beggs ML, Byers BR, Eisenach KD, Lundrigan MD. Exochelin genes in Mycobacterium smegmatis: identification of an ABC transporter and two non-ribosomal peptide synthetase genes. Mol Microbiol 1998; 29:629-39. [PMID: 9720878 DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2958.1998.00961.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Many strains of mycobacteria produce two ferric chelating substances that are termed exochelin (an excreted product) and mycobactin (a cell-associated product). These agents may function as iron acquisition siderophores. To examine the genetics of the iron acquisition system in mycobacteria, ultraviolet (UV) and transposon (Tn611) mutagenesis techniques were used to generate exochelin-deficient mutants of Mycobacterium smegmatis strains ATCC 607 and LR222 respectively. Mutants were identified on CAS siderophore detection agar plates. Comparisons of the amounts of CAS-reactive material excreted by the possible mutant strains with that of the wild-type strains verified that seven UV mutant strains and two confirmed transposition mutant strains were deficient in exochelin production. Cell-associated mycobactin production in the mutants appeared to be normal. From the two transposon mutants, the mutated gene regions were cloned and identified by colony hybridization with an IS6100 probe, and the DNA regions flanking the transposon insertion sites were then used as probes to clone the wild-type loci from M. smegmatis LR222 genomic DNA. Complementation assays showed that an 8 kb PstI fragment and a 4.8 kb PstI/SacI subclone of this fragment complemented one transposon mutant (LUN2) and one UV mutant (R92). A 10.1 kb SacI fragment restored exochelin production to the other transposon mutant (LUN1). The nucleotide sequence of the 15.3 kb DNA region that spanned the two transposon insertion sites overlapped the 5' region of the previously reported exochelin biosynthetic gene fxbA and contained three open reading frames that were transcribed in the opposite orientation to fxbA. The corresponding genes were designated exiT, fxbB and fxbC. The deduced amino acid sequence of ExiT suggested that it was a member of the ABC transporter superfamily, while FxbB and FxbC displayed significant homology with many enzymes (including pristinamycin I synthetase) that catalyse non-ribosomal peptide synthesis. We propose that the peptide backbone of the siderophore exochelin is synthesized in part by enzymes resembling non-ribosomal peptide synthetases and that the ABC transporter ExiT is responsible for exochelin excretion.
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Affiliation(s)
- W Zhu
- Department of Microbiology, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson 39216, USA
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