Some aspects of microbial iron metabolism

Deciphering Human Gut Microbiota-Nutrient Interactions: A Role for Biochemistry

The human gut contains trillions of microorganisms that play a central role in many aspects of host biology, including the provision of key nutrients from the diet. However, our appreciation of how gut microbes and their extensive metabolic capabilities affect the nutritional status of the human host is in its infancy. In this Perspective, we highlight how recent efforts to elucidate the biochemical basis for gut microbial metabolism of dietary components are reshaping our view of these organisms' roles in host nutrition. Gaining a molecular understanding of gut microbe-nutrient interactions will enhance our knowledge of how diet affects host health and disease, ultimately enabling personalized nutrition and therapeutics.

Coordination Chemistry of Microbial Iron Transport

This Account focuses on the coordination chemistry of the microbial iron chelators called siderophores. The initial research (early 1970s) focused on simple analogs of siderophores, which included hydroxamate, catecholate, or hydroxycarboxylate ligands. The subsequent work increasingly focused on the transport of siderophores and their microbial iron transport. Since these are pseudo-octahedral complexes often composed of bidentate ligands, there is chirality at the metal center that in principle is independent of the ligand chirality. It has been shown in many cases that chiral recognition of the complex occurs. Many techniques have been used to elucidate the iron uptake processes in both Gram-positive (single membrane) and Gram-negative (double membrane) bacteria. These have included the use of radioactive labels (of ligand, metal, or both), kinetically inert metal complexes, and Mössbauer spectroscopy. In general, siderophore recognition and transport involves receptors that recognize the metal chelate portion of the iron-siderophore complex. A second, to date less commonly found, mechanism called the siderophore shuttle involves the receptor binding an apo-siderophore. Since one of the primary ways that microbes compete with each other for iron stores is the strength of their competing siderophore complexes, it became important early on to characterize the solution thermodynamics of these species. Since the acidity of siderophores varies significantly, just the stability constant does not give a direct measure of the relative competitive strength of binding. For this reason, the pM value is compared. The pM, like pH, is a measure of the negative log of the free metal ion concentration, typically calculated at pH 7.4, and standard total concentrations of metal and ligand. The characterization of the electronic structure of ferric siderophores has done much to help explain the high stability of these complexes. A new chapter in siderophore science has emerged with the characterization of what are now called siderocalins. Initially found as a protein of the human innate immune system, these proteins bind both ferric and apo-siderophores to inactivate the siderophore transport system and hence deny iron to an invading pathogenic microbe. Siderocalins also can play a role in iron transport of the host, particularly in the early stages of fetal development. Finally, it is speculated that the molecular targets of siderocalins in different species differ based on the siderophore structures of the most important bacterial pathogens of those species.

Shared and distinct mechanisms of iron acquisition by bacterial and fungal pathogens of humans

Iron is the most abundant transition metal in the human body and its bioavailability is stringently controlled. In particular, iron is tightly bound to host proteins such as transferrin to maintain homeostasis, to limit potential damage caused by iron toxicity under physiological conditions and to restrict access by pathogens. Therefore, iron acquisition during infection of a human host is a challenge that must be surmounted by every successful pathogenic microorganism. Iron is essential for bacterial and fungal physiological processes such as DNA replication, transcription, metabolism, and energy generation via respiration. Hence, pathogenic bacteria and fungi have developed sophisticated strategies to gain access to iron from host sources. Indeed, siderophore production and transport, iron acquisition from heme and host iron-containing proteins such as hemoglobin and transferrin, and reduction of ferric to ferrous iron with subsequent transport are all strategies found in bacterial and fungal pathogens of humans. This review focuses on a comparison of these strategies between bacterial and fungal pathogens in the context of virulence and the iron limitation that occurs in the human body as a mechanism of innate nutritional defense.

Adsorption of hydroxamate siderophores and EDTA on goethite in the presence of the surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate

Siderophore-promoted iron acquisition by microorganisms usually occurs in the presence of other organic molecules, including biosurfactants. We have investigated the influence of the anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) on the adsorption of the siderophores DFOB (cationic) and DFOD (neutral) and the ligand EDTA (anionic) onto goethite (alpha-FeOOH) at pH 6. We also studied the adsorption of the corresponding 1:1 Fe(III)-ligand complexes, which are products of the dissolution process. Adsorption of the two free siderophores increased in a similar fashion with increasing SDS concentration, despite their difference in molecule charge. In contrast, SDS had little effect on the adsorption of EDTA. Adsorption of the Fe-DFOB and Fe-DFOD complexes also increased with increasing SDS concentrations, while adsorption of Fe-EDTA decreased. Our results suggest that hydrophobic interactions between adsorbed surfactants and siderophores are more important than electrostatic interactions. However, for strongly hydrophilic molecules, such as EDTA and its iron complex, the influence of SDS on their adsorption seems to depend on their tendency to form inner-sphere or outer-sphere surface complexes. Our results demonstrate that surfactants have a strong influence on the adsorption of siderophores to Fe oxides, which has important implications for siderophore-promoted dissolution of iron oxides and biological iron acquisition.

Low concentrations of surfactants enhance siderophore-promoted dissolution of goethite

Surface-active agents (surfactants) are released by many soil bacteria and plant roots and are also important as environmental contaminants. Their presence at interfaces could influence important biogeochemical processes in soils such as ligand-controlled dissolution, an important process in biological iron acquisition. To investigate their potential influence on ligand-controlled dissolution of iron oxides, we studied the dissolution kinetics of goethite (alpha FeOOH) at pH 6 in the presence of the bacterial siderophore desferrioxamine B (DFOB) and the anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). The adsorption isotherm of SDS on goethite showed an increase in the slope at concentrations ranging between 300 and 400 microM SDS in solution. This increase in slope suggested the onset of admicelle formation. Adsorption of DFOB onto goethite increased strongly with increasing concentrations of adsorbed SDS. Small concentrations of SDS (5 microM) resulted in a 3-fold acceleration of DFOB-controlled goethite dissolution in the presence of 80 microM DFOB, compared to the suspensions without SDS. The effects of SDS on the goethite dissolution rates were less pronounced at higher SDS concentrations, and became negligible above 600 microM total SDS. The dissolution rates of goethite were not proportional to the adsorbed DFOB concentrations, as would be expected for ligand-controlled dissolution. We speculate that increasing concentrations of adsorbed SDS result in a change in DFOB surface speciation from inner-sphere to outer-sphere complexes and, consequently, the ligand-controlled dissolution rates are not linearly related to the adsorbed DFOB concentration. Our results provide the first evidence for an important role of biosurfactants in biological iron acquisition involving siderophores.

Fluorescent pseudomonad pyoverdines bind and oxidize ferrous ion

Major pyoverdines from Pseudomonas fluorescens 2-79 (Pf-B), P. aeruginosa ATCC 15692 (Pa-C), and P. putida ATCC 12633 (Pp-C) were examined by absorption and fluorescence spectroscopic techniques to investigate the interaction between ferrous ion and the pyoverdine ligand. At physiological pH, ferrous ion quenched the fluorescence of all three pyoverdines much faster than ferric ion did. Also, increased absorbance at 460 nm was observed to be much faster for Fe2+ -pyoverdine than for Fe3+ -pyoverdine. At pH 7.4, about 90% of Fe3+ was bound by pyoverdine Pa-C after 24 h whereas Fe2+ was bound by the pyoverdine completely in only 5 min. The possibility that Fe2+ underwent rapid autoxidation before being bound by pyoverdine was considered unlikely, since the Fe2+ concentration in pyoverdine-free samples remained constant over a 3-min period at pH 7.4. Incubating excess Fe2+ with pyoverdine in the presence of 8-hydroxyquinoline, an Fe3+ -specific chelating agent, resulted in the formation of a Fe3+ -hydroxyquinoline complex, suggesting that the iron in the Fe2+ -pyoverdine complex existed in the oxidized form. These results strongly suggested that pyoverdines bind and oxidize the ferrous ion.

USE OF ARTHROBACTER TERREGENS FOR BIOASSAY OF MYCOBACTIN

Reich, Claude V. (Johns Hopkins-Leonard Wood Memorial Leprosy Research Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md.), and John H. Hanks. Use of Arthrobacter terregens for bioassay of mycobactin. J. Bacteriol. 87:1317-1320. 1964.-Arthrobacter terregens was used to assay mycobactin, a growth factor for Mycobacterium paratuberculosis. Within 7 days, A. terregens gave a linear photometric growth response to mycobactin in the range of 0.05 to 0.2 mug/ml. Preparations found to be active (or inactive) by this assay produced corresponding effects on the growth of M. paratuberculosis after 6 weeks to 4 months. Mycobactin was produced routinely from pellicles of M. phlei on a peptone-glycerol-beef heart infusion medium, and was extracted from both cells and medium by organic solvents. The mycobactin content per cell rose rapidly after the third day and attained a maximum at 4 to 6 days. The decline to less than one-half this value by the tenth day was associated with excretion into the medium. Production on synthetic media occurred after increasing the usual levels of asparagine. The demonstrated effects of crude mycobactin on the donor strain were (i) to catalyze the onset of growth and (ii) to reverse the effect of conditions which cause the formation of abnormal cells.

SPECIFICITY OF IMPROVED METHODS FOR MYCOBACTIN BIOASSAY BY ARTHROBACTER TERREGENS

Antoine, Alan D. (Johns Hopkins University-Leonard Wood Memorial Leprosy Research Laboratory, Baltimore, Md.), Norman E. Morrison, and John H. Hanks. Specificity of improved methods for mycobactin bioassay by Arthrobacter terregens. J. Bacteriol. 88:1672-1677. 1964.-Arthrobacter terregens was used to assay mycobactin, a growth factor for Mycobacterium paratuberculosis. Improved techniques permit the assay of mycobactin within 3 to 4 days by agarplate or liquid-medium methods. For the agarplate method, Arthrobacter terregens gave linear increases in zonal growth at mycobactin concentrations of 0.07 to 0.30 mug per spot; for the liquid-medium method, linear increases in turbidimetric growth occurred at 0.05 to 0.27 mug/ml. Specificity studies show that the mycobactin hydrolytic products, cobactin and mycobactic acid, function as growth stimulators, but the high concentrations required would produce only minimal interference in mycobactin assays. Furthermore, the response to mycobactic acid is characterized by a delayed response of 3 days. Various synthetic hydroxylamine-containing compounds and metalchelating agents cannot replace the biological activity of mycobactin. Diacetylmycobactin is 7.4 times more effective than mycobactin as a growth stimulator.

FACTORS AFFECTING THE RATE OF KILLING OF ESCHERICHIA COLI BY REPEATED FREEZING AND THAWING

Packer, Elliot L. (University of California, Davis), John L. Ingraham, and Stanley Scher. Factors affecting the rate of killing of Escherichia coli by repeated freezing and thawing. J. Bacteriol. 89:718-724. 1965.-Repeated freezing and thawing of cultures of Escherichia coli grown in a minimal medium and frozen in the same medium without carbon source resulted in a linear decrease in the log of the number of surviving cells as a function of the number of freeze-thaw cycles. The slope of this curve, which can be determined accurately, is an index of susceptibility of a culture to death by freezing and thawing. The effect of the physiological state of the culture on the killing rate was determined. Contrary to previous reports, the phase of growth, the state of aerobiosis, and the density of the culture had no effect on the degree of susceptibility to death by freezing and thawing. However, presence of spent growth medium (a filtrate of a stationary culture) in the freezing medium protected cells against death by freezing and thawing. Protection by spent growth medium is effective at high dilutions (1:10(5)), and is lost if spent growth medium is heated in the presence of alkali. It is suggested that the protection afforded by spent growth medium accounts for differences between our results and those reported in the literature.

THE STRUCTURE OF MYCOBACTIN P, A GROWTH FACTOR FOR MYCOBACTERIUM JOHNEI, AND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF ITS IRON COMPLEX

1. The growth factor from Mycobacterium phlei is now named mycobactin P to distinguish it from related but chemically distinct growth factors from other species of mycobacteria. It is shown to comprise four closely similar chemical entities differing only in the fatty side chain. 2. The structure of the main component (85%) of mycobactin P has been established and the absolute configuration of all asymmetric centres determined. 3. Ferric mycobactin P has been crystallized; its structure is discussed. 4. Evidence is given for regarding ferric mycobactin P as a member of the class of compounds known as sideramines, though the mycobactins are more specialized than other sideramines.

Characterization of siderophores from Ustilago maydis

Two siderophores, ferrichrome and ferrichrome A, were found in cultures of Ustilago maydis (DC) Corda. Both siderophores were found intracellularly and extracellularly. Their authenticity was confirmed by thin layer chromatography, HPLC, UV-visible spectrometry, paper electrophoresis, amino acid analysis, NMR and fast atom bombardment mass spectroscopy. Regulation of siderophore production by iron was examined. Repression of biosynthesis of extracellular siderophores occurred at 10(-5) M iron. Ferrichrome was found intracellularly at all iron concentrations employed; in general, ferrichrome A was not found to be cell-associated.

Assmilation of iron by pathogenic Neisseria spp

Iron assimilation by Neisseria meningitidis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae has been shown to be important to their growth and virulence. Iron acquisition in vitro was studied in an agar diffusion assay employing the iron-binding protein conalbumin. The ability of various iron compounds to alter the growth-inhibitory effect of conalbumin was investigated. On an equimolar iron basis, citrate-containing iron compounds were most effective; hemin was slightly less effective; ferrous sulfate and ferrous ammonium sulfate were even less effective; and the ferric compounds, ferric nitrate, ferric chloride, and ferric dextran (Imferon), were least effective. The results suggested that, as with Escherichia coli and certain other bacteria, the Neisseria spp. may utilize a citrate-mediated iron transport system. Microbial siderophores were also tested for their ability to relieve the growth-inhibitory effect of conalbumin. Two phenolate siderophores and Desferal enhanced growth inhibition in the deferrated form, but were inactive in the ferrated form. Several trihydroxamates of the ferrichrome family and coprogen were inactive in either the deferrated or ferrated forms. Of the 12 different siderophores tested, only the dihydroxamates (schizokinen, arthrobactin, and aerobactin) were stimulatory, but then only in the ferrated forms. Apparently, even though those siderophores could be utilized as specific iron transport agents by the Neisseria spp., they could not compete with conalbumin for iron under these assay conditions.

Energy-independent uptake of iron from citrate by isolated outer membranes of Neisseria meningitidis

Cyanide-poisoned Neisseria meningitidis SD1C cells rapidly took up 55Fe from iron-citrate complexes during the first 2 min, after which no further iron was accumulated. [14C]citrate was not taken up concomitantly with 55Fe by these cells. The 55Fe taken up by the poisoned cells was found in the membrane fraction after cells were broken; 70% of the radioactivity was distributed in the outer membrane, and 30% was in the inner membrane. Isolated outer membranes from iron-starved cells were as capable of iron uptake from citrate as intact cells were. As with whole cells, [14C]citrate was not taken up by isolated outer membranes. A polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis of the proteins from citrate-dialyzed outer membranes after the uptake of 55Fe revealed that the radioactivity was associated with a major band of 36,500 molecular weight.

Iron acquisition by Neisseria meningitidis in vitro

Assays employing iron-limited solid and liquid, defined and complex media were devised to test the iron requirements of Neisseria meningitidis. A variety of tests yielded no evidence for the secretion of a soluble iron-binding substance (siderophore) by the meningococci. The meningococci were unable to use iron bound to some common hydroxamate- and catechol-type siderophores or even compete with them for iron in the growth medium. A total of 20 strains of meningococci, differing widely in their virulence for mice, were similar in ability to acquire iron from a variety of iron-containing substances; the iron in such compounds as hog gastric mucin, citrate, hemoglobin, and myoglobin was easily acquired, whereas the iron in compounds such as ferrioxamine B, ferrichrome,ferritin, Imferon, cytochrome c, FePO4, and [Fe(OH)3]n was not readily available. No correlation was noted between the ability of particular strains to obtain iron from compounds and virulence in mice. Iron complexed or chelated with a number of metabolic organic acids, polyphosphates, and several synthetic polycarboxylic acids was readily available to all strains, even though some of the compounds used had high effective binding constants for iron and all were in 3- or 10-fold molar excess over the iron present. The addition of some of these iron-complexing substances (e.g., citrate and pyrophosphate) in iron-free form made many biologically important iron compounds that are normally inaccessible to the meningococci readily available.

Growth potential of cottonseed culture media for various clinically significant aerobic bacteria

Enzymatic hydrolysates of various cottonseed flours were prepared with the proteolytic enzymes bromelain, HT-200, Pronase, and trypsin. The growth of various aerobic bacteria of clinical significance in these hydrolysates was compared to that obtained with a standard casein-soybean peptone culture medium, Trypticase soy. The generation times of the majority of bacteria grown in the bromelain cottonseed flour hydrolysate were shorter than that obtained with the standard control broth. A bromelain cottonseed flour hydrolysate agar preparation supported the growth of the bacteria comparably to that of the casein-soybean agar substrate. All the bacterial colonies were larger on the bromelain cottonseed flour hydrolysate blood agar medium than those grown on the control agar. The peptones derived from the enzymatic hydrolysis of cottonseed flour are sufficient to promote the rapid and luxuriant growth of a wide spectrum of aerobic bacteria without the addition of peptone from other sources. It is suggested that cottonseed flour peptones be utilized as a nutrient source in general-purpose media for the clinical microbiology laboratory.

The utilization of iron and its complexes by mammalian mitochondria

Sonicated mitochondria catalyse the reduction of ferric salts, and the subsequent incorporation of Fe(2+) into haem, when provided with a reducing substrate such as succinate or NADH. The rate of haem synthesis was low under aerobic conditions and, after a short lag period, accelerated once anaerobic conditions were achieved; it was insensitive to antimycin A. The lag period was decreased by preincubating the mitochondria with NADH and Fe(3+). Newly formed Fe(2+) was autoxidized rapidly and the consequent O(2) uptake was measured with an oxygen electrode to determine the rate of enzymic formation of Fe(2+) from FeCl(3); this reaction was rapid in sonicated mitochondria provided with NADH or succinate and was insensitive to antimycin A. The reaction was very slow in intact mitochondria, suggesting a permeability barrier to Fe(3+) ions. This system was used to test the permeability of the mitochondrial membrane to various iron complexes of biological importance. Of the compounds tested only ferrioxamine G appeared to penetrate readily and the iron of this complex was reduced when intact mitochondria were supplied with succinate or NADH-linked substrates. The reduction was insensitive to rotenone or antimycin A. Both ferrioxamine G and ferrioxamine B were, however, reduced by particles. The membrane fraction of sonicated mitochondria was necessary for the reduction. The rate of ferrioxamine B reduction by sonicated mitochondria was measured by a dual-wavelength spectrophotometric assay and was found to be stimulated in conditions where the Fe(2+) produced was utilized for haem synthesis. The addition of FeCl(3) to anaerobic particles caused an oxidation of cytochrome b when this region of the respiratory chain was isolated by treatment with rotenone and antimycin A. These results suggest that the reduction of ferric iron and its complexes occurs inside the inner mitochondrial membrane in proximity to ferrochelatase. Possible sites for this reduction are the flavoproteins, succinate and NADH dehydrogenase.

Effect of pressure on the electronic structure of ferric hydroxamates and ferrichrome A

The effect of pressure up to 175 kilobars on the electronic structure of three ferric hydroxamates and on ferrichrome A has been studied by optical absorption and Mössbauer resonance. The ferric ion was reduced to ferrous ion with pressure, as has been previously observed for various compounds. For the hydroxamates, the amount of reduction correlated very well with the location and shift of the metal-to-ligand charge transfer peak. This is entirely consistent with a previously presented theory. The results for ferrichrome A did not fit quantitatively into the series. Since the shape of the potential well is almost certainly different for this compound, this result is not surprising.

Rhodotorulic acid from species of Leucosporidium, Rhodosporidium, Rhodotorula, Sporidiobolus, and Sporobolomyces, and a new alanine-containing ferrichrome from Cryptococcus melibiosum

An examination of 142 strains within 19 genera of yeasts and yeastlike organisms for formation of hydroxamic acids in low-iron culture showed production of hydroxamates by two unclassified strains and by 52 strains among the genera Aessosporon (3 of 3 strains), Cryptococcus (1 of 43), Leucosporidium (3 of 11), Rhodosporidium (4 of 4), Rhodotorula (27 of 39), Sporidiobolus (2 of 2), and Sporobolomyces (12 of 13). Crystalline rhodotorulic acid was isolated in amounts sufficient to account for most or all of the measured hydroxamate in culture supernatants of 16 strains representative of the five last-mentioned hydroxamate-producing genera. A new alanine-containing ferrichrome was isolated from one strain of Cryptococcus melibiosum. Rhodotorulic acid was a major metabolic product of many of the positive strains when grown in low-iron media, and iron was shown to repress its synthesis and excretion into the culture medium. The taxonomic significance of production of hydroxamic acids is described in connection with the position of these yeast species in the subclass Heterobasidiomycetidae.

Metal complexes of mycobactin P and of desferrisideramines

Crystalline gallium mycobactin P and chromic mycobactin P have been prepared. The chromic compound, unlike other metallic complexes of mycobactin P, does not detectably exchange its metal with ferric iron; it competitively antagonizes the growth-promoting action of mycobactin P towards Mycobacterium johnei. Mycobactin P, desferrioxamine B and desferrichrysin form coloured 1:1 complexes with ammonium vanadate. The vanadyl complexes of the water-soluble desferrisideramines are formed in aqueous solution. Two distinct forms occur at pH7 and pH3; these are slowly interconvertible when the pH is changed. The complexes show other changes at lower pH values; unlike other metallic desferrisideramine complexes, the vanadyl compounds do not dissociate even in the strongest acids, but dissociate above pH9. Their properties have been studied spectrophotometrically, by electrophoresis and by electrometric titration. The affinity of mycobactin for ferric iron is greater than that of desferrioxamine B under two different conditions of measurement.

New medium for blood cultures

A new medium suitable for blood cultures is described. It contains dextrose, cysteine, iron, and magnesium, in a tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane buffer, and a mixture of peptones derived from animal tissues, casein, and yeast. In comparison with Trypticase Soy Broth, the growth rate constants of Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus (Viridans group), enterococcus, and Escherichia coli were higher in this medium, and growth appeared earlier in a significant number of clinical blood cultures.

Iron-chelating hydroxamic acid (schizokinen) active in initiation of cell division in Bacillus megaterium

Bacillus megaterium ATCC 19213 secretes a cell division-initiating "schizokinen" (SK) which accumulates during its culture cycle to a concentration inversely proportional to the iron added to a sucrose-mineral salts medium. Secreted SK was purified from culture filtrates as a red Fe (III) chelate, and a fraction with similar biological properties was obtained from whole cells. Infrared spectra of SK, and analyses of unhydrolyzed and acid-hydrolyzed preparations indicated it to be a secondary hydroxamate; visible absorption maxima of the ferric complex showed pH dependency typical of ferric monohydroxamates. Schizokinen preparations from cultures grown at "normal" and at low Fe concentrations were similar biologically and in certain of their chemical properties, but their R(F) values and infrared spectra suggested nonidentity. Significant lag reduction of B. megaterium was effected by 0.2 mmug of SK per ml; the Fe (III)-SK chelate and "iron-free" SK were equally effective. A 50-mmug amount produced half-maximal growth response of the siderochrome auxotroph, Arthrobacter JG-9. Schizokinen also overcame ferrimycin A inhibition of three Bacillus species. These properties relate the B. megaterium schizokinen to the trihydroxamate siderochromes, although SK appears to be a monohydroxamate.

Cobalt toxicity and iron metabolism in Neurospora crassa

1. Increasing concentrations of cobalt in the medium result in increased production of an iron-binding compound and a corresponding fall in catalase activity of Neurospora crassa. 2. Cobalt rapidly depletes the medium of iron by enhancing the rate of iron uptake by the mycelium. 3. With toxic amounts of cobalt there is a fall in bound (59)Fe and haem (59)Fe as well as a decreased incorporation of [2-(14)C]glycine into the mycelial haem fraction. The production of the iron-binding compound precedes the fall in the iron-dependent systems mentioned. 4. The (59)Fe bound to the iron-binding compound acts as a better iron source for haem synthesis in cell-free extracts as compared with (59)FeSO(4). 5. Cobalt inhibits iron incorporation into protoporphyrin in cell-free extracts but is not itself incorporated to an appreciable extent.

Specificity of the heme requirement for growth of Bacteroides ruminicola

Caldwell, D. R. (U.S. Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, Md.), D. C. White, M. P. Bryant, and R. N. Doetsch. Specificity of the heme requirement for growth of Bacteroides ruminicola. J. Bacteriol. 90:1645-1654. 1965.-Previous studies suggested that most strains of Bacteroides ruminicola subsp. ruminicola require heme for growth. Present studies with heme-requiring strain 23 showed that protoheme was replaced by various porphyrins, uroporphyrinogen, coproporphyrinogen, certain iron-free metalloporphyrins, hemes, and certain heme-proteins containing readily removable hemes. Strain 23 utilized a wider range of tetrapyrroles than hemin-requiring bacteria previously studied. Inactive compounds included porphyrin biosynthesis intermediates preceding the tetrapyrrole stage and related compounds; uroporphyrin, chlorophyll, pheophytin, phycoerythrin, bilirubin, pyrrole, FeSO(4) with or without chelating agents; and representative ferrichrome compounds. Strain 23, two other strains representing predominant biotypes of B. ruminicola subsp. ruminicola, and one closely related strain grew in media containing heme-free protoporphyrin, mesoporphyrin, hematoporphyrin, or deuteroporphyrin, apparently inserting iron into several nonvinyl porphyrins. Porphobilinogen and porphyrin synthesis, apparently via the commonly known heme synthesis pathway, occurred during growth of heme-independent B. ruminicola subsp. brevis strain GA33 in a tetrapyrrole-free medium containing delta-aminolevulinic acid, but delta-aminolevulinic acid metabolism to porphobilinogen or porphyrins could not be detected in cells of heme-requiring strain 23 grown in the same medium with hemin added. Growth of strain 23 with uroporphyrinogen, coproporphyrinogen, or protoporphyrin IX replacing hemin suggests that part of the commonly known heme-biosynthesis pathway is present in this strain, but nutritional and metabolic evidence indicates that some or all of the enzymes synthesizing the tetrapyrrole nucleus from linear molecules are lacking or inactive.

Crystal and Molecular Structure of Ferrichrome A

The crystal structure of ferrichrome A (C(41)H(58)N(9)O(20)Fe.4H(2)O) has been determined by x-ray diffraction. The amino acid sequence in the hexapeptide ring is confirmed to be -Orn-Orn-Orn-Ser-Ser-Gly-, and the conformation of this ring is trans at each peptide linkage. The absolute configuration of the three hydroxamate rings at the iron atom is that of a left-handed propeller. Disorder is found concerning the positions of some of the side chains and one of the four water molecules.

Iron Chelates in Soybean Exudate

Soybean exudates contain iron compounds which can be separated electrophoretically into anodic bands and eluted with water. Chromatography of the water extracts separated iron from chelating agents which were identified as malic acid and malonic acid. Hence organic acids seem to function in the translocation of iron in plants.