Ironing out ferric siderophore reduction in Gram negative bacteria

Abstract

"Metals are essential for life, and life as we know it, would not exist without them. Iron is the predominant redox active metal in biological systems and its importance can be recognized from the earliest geological evidence. Iron formations accumulated on the sea floor for over two billion years show that in the ferruginous Archaean oceans, iron likely served as an electron donor in anoxygenic phototrophic metabolism and structural and catalytic element in biological macromolecules. However, after the Great Oxidation Event (GOE) brought about by the evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis, the rise in atmospheric oxygen levels caused additional precipitation of soluble Fe(II) into insoluble Fe(III), leading to a dramatic decrease in the bioavailability of this element. Notwithstanding, iron was kept as a crucial nutrient for life."