The Esterase PfeE, the Achilles' Heel in the Battle for Iron between Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli.

ABSTRACT: Bacteria access iron, a key nutrient, by producing siderophores or using siderophores produced by other microorganisms. The pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa produces two siderophores but is also able to pirate enterobactin (ENT), the siderophore produced by Escherichia coli. ENT-Fe complexes are imported across the outer membrane of P. aeruginosa by the two outer membrane transporters PfeA and PirA. Iron is released from ENT in the P. aeruginosa periplasm by hydrolysis of ENT by the esterase PfeE. We show here that pfeE gene deletion renders P. aeruginosa unable to grow in the presence of ENT because it is unable to access iron via this siderophore. Two-species co-cultures under iron-restricted conditions show that P. aeruginosa strong

SUBMITTER: Gasser V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8001512 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature