Cross-Kingdom Siderophores: Biosynthesis, Ecology, and Biotechnological Applications

Microbial siderophores are high-affinity iron-binding compounds which are produced by bacteria, fungi, and actinomycetes to obtain iron and survive and interact with different species in an iron-deficient environment. While the conventional research on siderophore systems deals mainly with the study within the same taxa, modern researchers have increased their inclination toward cross-kingdom integration of siderophore behavior and their impact on host-associated environments. This can be largely attributed to differences in biosynthetic gene clusters, receptor systems, and regulatory networks, which produce distinct genotype-to-phenotype results determining microbial cooperation and competition. Current advancements in genomic research, together with omics studies like transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics, have created newer insights into how siderophores function. However, the present literature evidences multiple major gaps in multi-omics data because the link between genomes and metabolomes remains weak due to inconsistent regulatory data sets and failure in identifying producer-consumer relationships in polymicrobial systems. Additionally, major constraints like molecular instability, delivery system limitations, host toxicity, limitations in upscaling, and regulatory issues delimit the use of siderophores in medical treatment, agricultural practices, and environmental biotechnology. This review aims to bridge the existing knowledge about siderophore biochemistry, biosynthesis, ecological functions, and genetic regulation across kingdoms while integrating multi-omics outlook with translational considerations. Thus, by connecting molecular mechanisms with evolutionary cross-talk, this study aims to provide a system-level framework in the world of siderophore-mediated iron uptake and therefore shapes future directions in emerging fields of microbial engineering, precision therapies, and sustainable biotechnology.