Nature Communications (Dec 2021)

Siderophore-mediated zinc acquisition enhances enterobacterial colonization of the inflamed gut

  • Judith Behnsen,
  • Hui Zhi,
  • Allegra T. Aron,
  • Vivekanandan Subramanian,
  • William Santus,
  • Michael H. Lee,
  • Romana R. Gerner,
  • Daniel Petras,
  • Janet Z. Liu,
  • Keith D. Green,
  • Sarah L. Price,
  • Jose Camacho,
  • Hannah Hillman,
  • Joshua Tjokrosurjo,
  • Nicola P. Montaldo,
  • Evelyn M. Hoover,
  • Sean Treacy-Abarca,
  • Benjamin A. Gilston,
  • Eric P. Skaar,
  • Walter J. Chazin,
  • Sylvie Garneau-Tsodikova,
  • Matthew B. Lawrenz,
  • Robert D. Perry,
  • Sean-Paul Nuccio,
  • Pieter C. Dorrestein,
  • Manuela Raffatellu

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-27297-2
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 1
pp. 1 – 15

Abstract

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Zinc is an essential cofactor for bacterial metabolism. Here, the authors show that the probiotic bacterium Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 utilizes the siderophore yersiniabactin as a zincophore, allowing the microbe to grow in zinc-limited media and to thrive in the inflamed gut.