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Updated: Oct 13, 2025

Staphylococcus aureus Growth using Human Hemoglobin as an Iron Source
Published on: February 7, 2013
Bacterial Approaches for Assembling Iron-Sulfur Proteins
Karla Esquilin-Lebron1, Sarah Dubrac2, Frédéric Barras2
1Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA.
Abstract:
Building iron-sulfur (Fe-S) clusters and assembling Fe-S proteins are essential actions for life on Earth. The three processes that sustain life, photosynthesis, nitrogen fixation, and respiration, require Fe-S proteins. Genes coding for Fe-S proteins can be found in nearly every sequenced genome. Fe-S proteins have a wide variety of functions, and therefore, defective assembly of Fe-S proteins results in cell death or global metabolic defects. Compared to alternative essential cellular processes, there is less known about Fe-S cluster synthesis and Fe-S protein maturation. Moreover, new factors involved in Fe-S protein assembly continue to be discovered. These facts highlight the growing need to develop a deeper biological understanding of Fe-S cluster synthesis, holo-protein maturation, and Fe-S cluster repair. Here, we outline bacterial strategies used to assemble Fe-S proteins and the genetic regulation of these processes. We focus on recent and relevant findings and discuss future directions, including the proposal of using Fe-S protein assembly as an antipathogen target.
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