Iron is essential for almost all living organisms as it is involved in a wide variety of important metabolic processes. However, iron is not readily available and microorganisms therefore employ various iron uptake systems to secure sufficient supplies from their surroundings. There is considerable variation in the range of iron transporters and iron sources utilized by different microbial species. Pathogens, in particular, require efficient iron acquisition mechanisms to enable them to compete successfully for iron in the highly iron-restricted environment of the host's tissues and body fluids. In this book, an international team of authors presents a comprehensive collection of reviews on iron uptake and metabolism in various microorganisms, including Rhizobia, Bordetella, Shigella, E. coli, Erwinia, Vibrio, Aeromonas, Francisella, Bacteroides, Campylobacter, Cyanobacteria, Bacillus, Staphylococci, and yeasts. An entire chapter is dedicated to siderophores and another to heme uptake.

The genome sequences of several pseudomonads have become available in recent years and researchers are beginning to use the data to make new discoveries about this bacterium. This concise volume reviews the most current and topical aspects of Pseudomonas molecular biology and genomics and is aimed at a readership of research scientists, graduate students and other specialists. Renowned international authors have contributed chapters on diverse topics including taxonomy, genome diversity, oligonucleotide usage, polysaccharides, pathogenesis, virulence, biofilms, antibiotic resistance and iron uptake. In addition an entire chapter is devoted to the genetic tools being developed to take full advantage of the wealth of information generated by the genome sequencing efforts. This book is essential reading for anyone involved in Pseudomonas research.

Iron is essential for the growth of most bacteria because it serves as a cofactor for vital enzymes and for the components of the electron transport chain. Moreover, Iron plays an important role in bacterial pathogenicity; in fact, the iron transport systems in bacteria works as target for designing novel antibiotics. Because iron is not soluble under aerobic conditions, bacteria have had to find ways to overcome iron deficiency. One of them is producing an iron-chelating small organic molecule called siderophore. Indeed, most bacteria and fungi produce structurally and chemically diverse siderophores which are transported back to the cytoplasm using complex energy dependent transport systems. "Escherichia coli" and "Pseudomonas" were the first ones to be tested; however, nowadays iron transport systems have been investigated in many other bacteria.

"Iron Uptake in Bacteria with Emphasis on E. coli and" "Pseudomonas" reviews the recent advancements in the field of iron transport systems in bacteria. Chapter 1 is dedicated to Dr. Dick van der Helm s contribution to the field of siderophore biology. It then describes and discusses the structural advances in the components and the mechanism of siderophore mediated iron transport systems in "E.coli." Chapter 2 details the variety of iron transport and iron regulatory systems of both gram negative and gram positive bacteria. Finally, chapter 3 describes the iron transport systems of "Pseudomonas."

This book is aimed at researchers in the fields of iron metabolism in multiple organisms, and to those who are interested in studying iron transport systems of bacteria. It appeals also to scientists researching structure and function relationship of proteins.

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