A genome-wide analysis of desferrioxamine mediated iron uptake in Erwinia spp. reveals genes exclusive of the Rosaceae infecting strains

Abstract

Erwinia amylovora is the etiological agent of fire blight, a devastating disease which is a global threat to commercial apple and pear production. The Erwinia genus includes a wide range of different species belonging to plant pathogens, epiphytes and even opportunistic human pathogens. The aim of the present study is to understand, within the Erwinia genus, the genetic differences between phytopathogenic strains and those strains not reported to be phytopathogenic. The genes related to the hydroxamate siderophores iron uptake have been considered due to their potential druggability. In E . amylovora siderophore-mediated iron acquisition plays a relevant role in the progression of Fire blight. Here we analyzed the taxonomic relations within Erwinia genus and the relevance of the genes related to the siderophore-mediated iron uptake pathway. The results of this study highlight the presence of a well-defined sub-group of Rosaceae infecting species taxonomically and genetically related with a high number of conserved core genes. The analysis of the complete ferrioxamine transport system has led to the identification of two genes exclusively present in the Rosaceae infecting strains.

The Siderophore Transporters Sit1 and Sit2 Are Essential for Utilization of Ferrichrome-, Ferrioxamine- and Coprogen-Type Siderophores in Aspergillus fumigatus

“…Ferrichrome is produced by several fungal species and ferrioxamines are produced by bacterial species such as streptomyces and Erwinia spp. [ 19 , 20 ]. The substrate specificities of MirC and MirD remain to be elucidated, whereby MirC has been suggested to participate in ferricrocin biosynthesis [ 21 ].…”

Structural and functional characterization of proteins from the fire blight pathogen Erwinia amylovora. A review on the state of the art

“…In E. amylovora a single gene cluster (dfoJAC operon) encodes for the three proteins required for performing the four enzymatic reactions necessary for the biosynthesis of DFO-E (Polsinelli et al 2019a). Mutants of E. amylovora CFBP1430, defective in the siderophore biosynthesis (disrupted dfoA gene) or siderophore uptake (ferrioxamine receptor FoxR defective) showed a two orders of magnitude reduced growth on apple flowers compared to the wild-type (Dellagi et al 1998).…”

The Siderophore Ferricrocin Mediates Iron Acquisition in Aspergillus fumigatus

“…Sit1 additionally transports ferrioxamine-type siderophores ( 10 , 21 ). Ferrioxamines are clearly xenosiderophores, as they are produced exclusively by bacterial species ( 10 , 22 , 23 ). If Sit1 and Sit2 are exclusively involved in uptake of ferrichrome-type siderophores secreted by other fungal species or if FC is secreted also by A. fumigatus is yet unresolved.…”