Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 19, 2026

Staphylococcus aureus Growth using Human Hemoglobin as an Iron Source
Published on: February 7, 2013
Siderophore-mediated iron acquisition in the staphylococci
Federico C Beasley1, David E Heinrichs
1Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5C1.
Abstract:
Iron is frequently a growth-limiting nutrient due to its propensity to interact with oxygen to form insoluble precipitates and, therefore, biological systems have evolved specialized uptake mechanisms to obtain this essential nutrient. Many pathogenic bacteria are capable of obtaining stringently sequestered iron from animal hosts by one or both of the following mechanisms: extraction of heme from host erythrocyte and serum hemoproteins, or through the use of high affinity, iron-scavenging molecules termed siderophores. This review summarizes our current knowledge of siderophore-mediated iron acquisition systems in the genus Staphylococcus.
Related Concept Videos
Microbes and Other Elemental Cycles
Sulfur Assimilation
Microbial Nutrition
The Early Endosome: Endocytosis of Transferrin
Microbial Leaching
Staphylococcal Skin Infections

