©2020 Biological and Chemical Oceanography Data Management Office.Funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation
©2020 Biological and Chemical Oceanography Data Management Office.Project title:
Iron Uptake by Marine Bacteria: Regulation and Function of Weak and Strong Siderophores.
P.I. Francois M. M. MOREL
Princeton University
A variety of small molecules produced by microorganisms are exported into their external medium. These extracellular metabolites are used for various purposes such as taking up chemicals from the environment, sharing information (chemical talk), warfare, and cooperation between organisms. This project dealt with two classes of such compounds: 1) siderophores, which are used to take up essential iron from the environment, and 2) quorum sensing molecules, which are used to share information about the surrounding concentration of similar organisms (a sort of census for microbes).
Highlights of the project include:
1) The identification of several siderophores produced by important soil microbes including one with a chemical structure never previously reported;
2) The demonstration that some siderophores are used for taking up metals other than iron, in particular molybdenum and vanadium which are used in the biological fixation of nitrogen from the atmosphere;
3) The design of a new culture medium that allows the study of marine bacteria at the very low iron concentrations present in natural ocean water;
4) The demonstration that, when they are present in large numbers, marine bacteria use quorum sensing to avoid overproducing siderophores in their surroundings.
This project partly supported 4 undergraduate student, 1 graduate student and 2 postdoctoral associates.
Last Modified: 02/21/2020
Modified by: Francois M Morel
| Dataset | Latest Version Date | Current State |
|---|---|---|
| Siderophore concentrations found in supernatants of Azotobacter vinelandii str. OP, Azotobacter chroococcum str. B3, and Azotobacter chroococcum str. NCIMB 8003 from laboratory experiments in 2015 | 2021-10-05 | Final no updates expected |
| Siderophore concentrations found in supernatants of Rhodopseudomonas palustris str. CGA009 grown under different aerobic and anaerobic conditions from laboratory experiments in 2016 | 2021-09-21 | Final no updates expected |
| Amphi-enterobactins and related siderophore concentrations found in Vibrio harveyi supernatants and pellets from laboratory experiments in 2017 | 2021-10-01 | Final no updates expected |
| High resolution mass spectra for amphi-enterobactin related siderophores from Vibrio harveyi from laboratory experiments in 2017 | 2021-09-21 | Final no updates expected |
Principal Investigator: Francois M. Morel (Princeton University)