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Updated: Jan 5, 2026

Staphylococcus aureus Growth using Human Hemoglobin as an Iron Source
Published on: February 7, 2013
Staphylococcus aureus exhibits heterogeneous siderophore production within the vertebrate host
William J Perry1,2,3, Jeffrey M Spraggins1,2,4, Jessica R Sheldon3,5
1Mass Spectrometry Research Center, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37232.
Abstract:
Siderophores, iron-scavenging small molecules, are fundamental to bacterial nutrient metal acquisition and enable pathogens to overcome challenges imposed by nutritional immunity. Multimodal imaging mass spectrometry allows visualization of host-pathogen iron competition, by mapping siderophores within infected tissue. We have observed heterogeneous distributions of Staphylococcus aureus siderophores across infectious foci, challenging the paradigm that the vertebrate host is a uniformly iron-depleted environment to invading microbes.
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