A Chimeric Siderophore Halts Swarming Vibrio

Some bacteria swarm under some circumstances; they move rapidly and collectively over a surface. In an effort to understand the molecular signals controlling swarming, we isolated two bacterial strains from the same red seaweed, Vibrio alginolyticus B522, a vigorous swarmer, and Shewanella algae B51...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Angewandte Chemie (International ed.) 2014-03, Vol.53 (13), p.3510-3513
Main Authors: Böttcher, Thomas, Clardy, Jon
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Algae
Bacteria
Bacterial Proteins - metabolism
Bacteriology
Biological Products
evolution
Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial
Genes
Hydroxamic Acids - chemistry
Inhibitors
Iron
Iron - metabolism
motility
natural products
Peptides, Cyclic - chemistry
Piracy
Shewanella
siderophores
Siderophores - chemistry
Swarming
Vibrio
Vibrio - chemistry
Vibrio alginolyticus
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Summary:Some bacteria swarm under some circumstances; they move rapidly and collectively over a surface. In an effort to understand the molecular signals controlling swarming, we isolated two bacterial strains from the same red seaweed, Vibrio alginolyticus B522, a vigorous swarmer, and Shewanella algae B516, which inhibits V. alginolyticus swarming in its vicinity. Plate assays combined with NMR, MS, and X‐ray diffraction analyses identified a small molecule, which was named avaroferrin, as a potent swarming inhibitor. Avaroferrin, a previously unreported cyclic dihydroxamate siderophore, is a chimera of two well‐known siderophores: putrebactin and bisucaberin. The sequenced genome of S. algae revealed avaroferrin’s biosynthetic gene cluster to be a mashup of putrebactin and bisucaberin biosynthetic genes. Avaroferrin blocks swarming through its ability to bind iron in a form that cannot be pirated by V. alginolyticus, thereby securing this essential resource for its producer. Going for the iron: The compound avaroferrin produced by Shewanella is a potent inhibitor of Vibrio swarming. Avaroferrin stops the swarming without killing the Vibrio bacteria by preventing iron piracy.
ISSN:1433-7851
1521-3773
DOI:10.1002/anie.201310729