Siderophores Produced by Nitrogen-Fixing Azotobacter vinelandii OP in Iron-Limited Continuous Culture

Azotobacter vinelandii requires a high complement of iron and an efficient iron acquisition system to support nitrogen fixation. To circumvent problems inherent in batch culture trace metal studies, continuous cultures were used to measure the response of A. vinelandii to iron stress. Iron was found to be growth limiting for nitrogen-fixing A. vinelandii at a concentration as high as 12.5 muM; iron was growth sufficient at 25 muM. Iron-stressed A. vinelandii in continuous culture formed 2,3-hydroxybenzoic acid (DHB), 2-N,6-N-di-(2,3-dihydroxybenzoyl)-l-lysine (DHBL), and a chromophoric yellow-green fluorescent peptide (YGFP). At a fixed dilution rate of 0.1 h, steady-state growth occurred at growth-limiting iron concentrations. DHB and DHBL were quantitatively measured during iron-limited steady states and iron-sufficient states by Arnow colorimetric assays. YGFP was determined by absorbance measurements taken at 380 nm, and the concentration was calculated from the reported specific absorption coefficient. Biomass increased and DHBL, DHB, and YGFP concentrations decreased as the concentration of growth-limiting iron was increased in the culture vessel and medium reservoirs. DHBL was the major siderophore and YGFP was the minor siderophore species produced during iron-limited equilibrium growth. A low level of DHB and YGFP, but no DHBL, was formed under iron-sufficient conditions. These results provide further physiological evidence that DHB, YGFP, and especially DHBL may function as siderophores in nitrogen-fixing A. vinelandii.