Iron Homeostasis in Bacillus subtilis Requires Siderophore Production and Biofilm Formation.

ABSTRACT: Iron (Fe) is the most important metal in biology. Despite its abundance, Fe is mostly present as a ferric form in soils, strongly limiting its bioavailability. To overcome the challenge of Fe acquisition, many microorganisms produce siderophores to retrieve Fe from natural sources. Another ubiquitous feature of bacteria in natural environments is biofilm formation. Previous studies showed that external Fe strongly influenced biofilm formation in several bacteria, suggesting that this microenvironment plays a mechanistic role in micronutrient acquisition for bacteria. Here, we applied a complementary set of analytical methods and deletion mutants to evaluate the role of biofilm formation, siderophore production, and their interaction in Fe homeostasis in Bacillus subtilis We observed

SUBMITTER: Rizzi A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6344612 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature