The intracellular pathogen Rhodococcus equi produces a catecholate siderophore required for saprophytic growth.

ABSTRACT: Little is known about the iron acquisition systems of the soilborne facultative intracellular pathogen Rhodococcus equi. We previously reported that expression of iupABC, encoding a putative siderophore ABC transporter system, is iron regulated and required for growth at low iron concentrations. Here we show that disruption of iupA leads to the concomitant accumulation of catecholates and a chromophore with absorption maxima at 341 and 528 nm during growth under iron-replete conditions. In contrast, the wild-type strain produces these compounds only in iron-depleted medium. Disruption of iupU and iupS, encoding nonribosomal peptide synthetases, prevented growth of the corresponding R. equi SID1 and SID3 mutants at low iron concentrations. However, only R. equi SID3 did not produce the chro

SUBMITTER: Miranda-CasoLuengo R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2258663 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature