Plasma membrane ferric reductase activity of iron-limited algal cells is inhibited by ferric chelators

Glyphosate, a chelating agent-relevant for ecological risk assessment?

Glyphosate-based herbicides (GBHs), consisting of glyphosate and formulants, are the most frequently applied herbicides worldwide. The declared active ingredient glyphosate does not only inhibit the EPSPS but is also a chelating agent that binds macro- and micronutrients, essential for many plant processes and pathogen resistance. GBH treatment may thus impede uptake and availability of macro- and micronutrients in plants. The present study investigated whether this characteristic of glyphosate could contribute to adverse effects of GBH application in the environment and to human health. According to the results, it has not been fully elucidated whether the chelating activity of glyphosate contributes to the toxic effects on plants and potentially on plant-microorganism interactions, e.g., nitrogen fixation of leguminous plants. It is also still open whether the chelating property of glyphosate is involved in the toxic effects on organisms other than plants, described in many papers. By changing the availability of essential as well as toxic metals that are bound to soil particles, the herbicide might also impact soil life, although the occurrence of natural chelators with considerably higher chelating potentials makes an additional impact of glyphosate for most metals less likely. Further research should elucidate the role of glyphosate (and GBH) as a chelator, in particular, as this is a non-specific property potentially affecting many organisms and processes. In the process of reevaluation of glyphosate its chelating activity has hardly been discussed.

Iron uptake and storage in the HAB dinoflagellate Lingulodinium polyedrum

The iron uptake and storage systems of terrestrial/higher plants are now reasonably well understood with two basic strategies being distinguished: Strategy I involves the induction of an Fe(III)-chelate reductase (ferrireductase) along with Fe(II) or Fe(III) transporter proteins while strategy II plants have evolved sophisticated systems based on high-affinity, iron specific, binding compounds called phytosiderophores. In contrast, there is little knowledge about the corresponding systems in marine, plant-like lineages. Herein we report a study of the iron uptake and storage mechanisms in the harmful algal bloom dinoflagellate Lingulodinium polyedrum. L. polyedrum is an armored dinoflagellate with a mixotrophic lifestyle and one of the most common bloom species on Southern California coast widely noted for its bioluminescent properties and as a producer of yessotoxins. Short term radio-iron uptake studies indicate that iron is taken up by L. polyedrum in a time dependent manner consistent with an active transport process. Based on inhibitor and other studies it appears that a reductive-oxidative pathway such as that found in yeast and the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is likely. Of the various iron sources tested vibrioferrin, a photoactive and relatively weak siderophore produced by potentially mutualistic Marinobacter bacterial species, was the most efficient. Other more stable and non-photoactive siderophores such as ferrioxamine E were ineffective. Several pieces of data including long term exposure to ⁵⁷Fe using Mössbauer spectroscopy suggest that L. polyedrum does not possess an iron storage system but rather presumably relies on an efficient iron uptake system, perhaps mediated by mutualistic interactions with bacteria.

Atypical iron storage in marine brown algae: a multidisciplinary study of iron transport and storage in Ectocarpus siliculosus

Iron is an essential element for all living organisms due to its ubiquitous role in redox and other enzymes, especially in the context of respiration and photosynthesis. The iron uptake and storage systems of terrestrial/higher plants are now reasonably well understood, with two basic strategies for iron uptake being distinguished: strategy I plants use a mechanism involving induction of Fe(III)-chelate reductase (ferrireductase) and Fe(II) transporter proteins, while strategy II plants utilize high-affinity, iron-specific, binding compounds called phytosiderophores. In contrast, little is known about the corresponding systems in marine, plant-like lineages, particularly those of multicellular algae (seaweeds). Herein the first study of the iron uptake and storage mechanisms in the brown alga Ectocarpus siliculosus is reported. Genomic data suggest that Ectocarpus may use a strategy I approach. Short-term radio-iron uptake studies verified that iron is taken up by Ectocarpus in a time- and concentration-dependent manner consistent with an active transport process. Upon long-term exposure to (57)Fe, two metabolites have been identified using a combination of Mössbauer and X-ray absorption spectroscopies. These include an iron-sulphur cluster accounting for ~26% of the total intracellular iron pool and a second component with spectra typical of a polymeric (Fe(3+)O(6)) system with parameters similar to the amorphous phosphorus-rich mineral core of bacterial and plant ferritins. This iron metabolite accounts for ~74% of the cellular iron pool and suggests that Ectocarpus contains a non-ferritin but mineral-based iron storage pool.

Iron transport and storage in the coccolithophore: Emiliania huxleyi

Iron is an essential element for all living organisms due to its ubiquitous role in redox and other enzymes, especially in the context of respiration and photosynthesis. The iron uptake and storage systems of terrestrial/higher plants are now reasonably well understood with two basic strategies for iron uptake being distinguished: strategy I plants use a mechanism involving soil acidification and induction of Fe(III)-chelate reductase (ferrireductase) and Fe(II) transporter proteins while strategy II plants have evolved sophisticated systems based on high-affinity, iron specific, binding compounds called phytosiderophores. In contrast, there is little knowledge about the corresponding systems in marine plant-like lineages. Herein we report a study of the iron uptake and storage mechanisms in the coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi. Short term radio-iron uptake studies indicate that iron is taken up by Emiliania in a time and concentration dependent manner consistent with an active transport process. Based on inhibitor studies it appears that iron is taken up directly as Fe(iii). However if a reductive step is involved the Fe(II) must not be accessible to the external environment. Upon long term exposure to (57)Fe we have been able, using a combination of Mössbauer and XAS spectroscopies, to identify a single metabolite which displays spectral features similar to the phosphorus-rich mineral core of bacterial and plant ferritins.

Characteristics of the freshwater cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa grown in iron-limited continuous culture

A continuous culturing system (chemostat) made of metal-free materials was successfully developed and used to maintain Fe-limited cultures of Microcystis aeruginosa PCC7806 at nanomolar iron (Fe) concentrations (20 to 50 nM total Fe). EDTA was used to maintain Fe in solution, with bioavailable Fe controlled by absorption of light by the ferric EDTA complex and resultant reduction of Fe(III) to Fe(II). A kinetic model describing Fe transformations and biological uptake was applied to determine the biologically available form of Fe (i.e., unchelated ferrous iron) that is produced by photoreductive dissociation of the ferric EDTA complex. Prediction by chemostat theory modified to account for the light-mediated formation of bioavailable Fe rather than total Fe was in good agreement with growth characteristics of M. aeruginosa under Fe limitation. The cellular Fe quota increased with increasing dilution rates in a manner consistent with the Droop theory. Short-term Fe uptake assays using cells maintained at steady state indicated that M. aeruginosa cells vary their maximum Fe uptake rate (ρ(max)) depending on the degree of Fe stress. The rate of Fe uptake was lower for cells grown under conditions of lower Fe availability (i.e., lower dilution rate), suggesting that cells in the continuous cultures adjusted to Fe limitation by decreasing ρ(max) while maintaining a constant affinity for Fe.