Ferroptosis is a new kind of programmed cell death of which occurrence in microorganisms is not clearly verified. The elevated level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) influences cellular metabolisms through highly reactive hydroxyl radical formation under the iron-dependent Fenton reaction. Iron contributes to ROS production and acts as a cofactor for lipoxygenase to catalyze poly unsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) oxidation, exerting oxidative damage in cells. While ferroptosis is known to take place only in mammalian cells, recent studies discovered the possible ferroptosis-like death in few specific microorganisms. Capacity of integrating PUFA into intracellular membrane phospholipid has been considered as a key factor in bacterial or fungal ferroptosis-like death. Vibrio species in bacteria and Saccharomyces cerevisiae in fungi exhibited certain characteristics. Therefore, this review focus on introducing the occurrence of ferroptosis-like death in microorganisms and investigating the mode of action underlying the cells based on contribution of lipid peroxidation and iron-dependent reaction.
Keywords: Ferroptosis-like death; microorganisms; poly unsaturated fatty acid; reactive oxygen species.