Iron uptake by Mycobacterium tuberculosis

What is it about?

Iron is at the heart of the battle between bacterial pathogens and their hosts. This is especially true for Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of tuberculosis, which needs iron to grow and replicate, but faces severe iron restriction after infection due to a rapid immune response. This often leads to anemia in tuberculosis patients. M. tuberculosis is capable of capturing iron from the host utilizing so-called siderophores, small secreted molecules with high iron affinity, and can acquire heme, the most abundant iron source in the human body. However, many components of these two iron acquisition pathways are still unknown. In this study we systematically assessed the roles of each gene of M. tuberculosis in iron utilization. We found that 165 genes are required for iron utilization by M. tuberculosis and that the bacterial metabolism changes drastically depending on the iron source.

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Why is it important?

Iron is essential for Mycobacterium tuberculosis to cause disease. This work identified the genetic determinants of iron utilization by M. tuberculosis providing a basis to understand the molecular mechanisms of iron uptake and exploit this knowledge to develop novel drugs for tuberculosis chemotherapy.

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