Talk:Siderophore

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Certain bacteria use citrate, but I've forgotten which. A mission for a random wikipedian! Jack the Stripper (talk) 14:01, 29 November 2007 (UTC)

If you mean bacteria that utilize ferric citrate as iron source: there are numerous, like e.g. E. coli, other enterobacteriaceae, as well as pseudomonads, for instance(via the Fec-systm). On the other hand I can't quite recall whether there are any bacteria that actually secrete citrate as a kind of siderophore CharonZ (talk) 13:23, 10 December 2007 (UTC)
 * It said in Brock Biology of Microorganism that citrate was sometimes used as an iron chelator, and either's it's secreted outside the cell or into the space between cell wall and the phospholipid bilayer... I'll try to remember once I have access to the book again. Jack the Stripper (talk) 00:32, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

On another note, the second part of the text is actually more about Pseudomonas than about siderophores.CharonZ (talk)

Microbial sucide?

 * These drugs are lethal to the microbe and cause the microbe to commit suicide when it assimilates the siderophore conjugate.[3]

I don't think microbes commiting suicide should be on Wikipedia; maybe the text mean apoptosis? --134.214.233.9 (talk) 12:18, 18 February 2011 (UTC)


 * Yep, thanks for pointing that out, I've changed it. Don't be afraid to DIY next time ;) SmartSE (talk) 12:42, 18 February 2011 (UTC)

The current usage of "evolutionary pressure" is teleological
Early on in the article about sideophores I encountered the statement,

''Siderophores are also important for some pathogenic bacteria for their acquisition of iron.[3][4][10] In mammalian hosts, iron is tightly bound to proteins such as hemoglobin, transferrin, lactoferrin and ferritin. The strict homeostasis of iron leads to a free concentration of about 10−24 mol L−1,[11] hence there are great evolutionary pressures put on pathogenic bacteria to obtain this metal.''

This statement seems to suggest that because bacteria have siderophores AND because there is a concentration of free iron in the bodies of mammals, that there is pressure for the bacteria to obtain this metal. No. This is not how evolution works. The fact that bacteria that have siderophores certainly does suggest that iron acquisition could be important for bacteria. But, the presence of free iron does not imply an evolutionary pressure to acquire it. In order for the above quoted statement to be true, I would expect a citation to an article demonstrating that the acquisition of iron to increase the fitness of the bacteria. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Barcodeplane (talk • contribs) 20:40, 7 December 2021 (UTC)