Ja. Lindsay et Tv. Riley, STAPHYLOCOCCAL IRON REQUIREMENTS, SIDEROPHORE PRODUCTION, AND IRON-REGULATED PROTEIN EXPRESSION, Infection and immunity, 62(6), 1994, pp. 2309-2314
Despite the ability of staphylococci to grow in iron-restricted condit
ions in vivo, their iron requirements and the mechanisms possessed by
them for the uptake of iron are poorly understood. Many bacteria are k
nown to produce siderophores. By using the chrome azurol S universal m
ethod for the detection of siderophores, all 14 isolates of Staphyloco
ccus aureus tested grew well under conditions of iron restriction and
produced iron-regulated siderophore in large quantities, while all 19
isolates of coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) grew poorly under
conditions of iron restriction and produced low levels of iron chelato
r. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis profiles
of S. aureus isolates revealed altered protein patterns due to iron re
striction, while altered profiles were not seen in the CoNS group. The
ability to grow in iron-restricted conditions, possibly with the assi
stance of siderophore-mediated iron uptake, may contribute to the incr
eased pathogenicity of S. aureus when compared with that of the CoNS.