Iron is frequently a growth-limiting nutrient due to its propensity to interact with oxygen to form insoluble precipitates and, therefore, biological systems have evolved specialized uptake mechanisms to obtain this essential nutrient. Many pathogenic bacteria are capable of obtaining stringently sequestered iron from animal hosts by one or both of the following mechanisms: extraction of heme from host erythrocyte and serum hemoproteins, or through the use of high affinity, iron-scavenging molecules termed siderophores. This review summarizes our current knowledge of siderophore-mediated iron acquisition systems in the genus Staphylococcus.
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