Environmental determinants of siderophore production and exploitation

What is it about?

This article investigates the multi-facetted role of siderophores in natural soil and pond communities of Pseudomonas bacteria. From laboratory studies, we know that siderophores are important for iron-scavenging, but also affect the social interaction patterns between strains, as siderophores can be cross-used, exploited or even used to inhibit the growth of competitors. Here, we use a set of 930 pseudomonads from 48 communities to identify the environmental factors that determine both the siderophore production levels of natural isolates and their siderophore-mediated interaction patterns.

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Why is it important?

Iron is a growth-limiting factor for most bacteria, and siderophores allow bacteria to scavenge insoluble iron from the environment.