The isolation and characterisation of a novel siderophore from the marine bacterium Thalassomonas viridans

Abstract

Natural products (NPs) produced by bacteria, fungi, plants, and marine animals include a large group of diverse chemical entities that display a broad range of biological activities. NPs are widely used for various applications, particularly in the fields of agriculture and medicine. Siderophores are a type of NP produced by various microorganisms to scavenge iron from the environment. They are characterised as low-molecular-mass (500-1500 Da) free ligands with a high affinity for iron. In recent years, organisms inhabiting the world’s oceans have moved into the spotlight of NP discovery studies. Thalassomonas viridans is a strictly aerobic, halophilic, chemo-organotrophic marine bacterium that was first isolated from cultivated oysters off the Mediterranean coast of Spain. When tested, this organism was seen to produce siderophores when grown under iron-limited conditions. Chemical characterisation tests were able to deem the siderophore as a carboxylate type. No antimicrobial activity was seen by the purified siderophore. It was determined that the siderophore is able to bind both iron and aluminium, but not vanadium or arsenic.