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J Med Microbiol 55 (2006), 661-668; DOI: 10.1099/jmm.0.46199-0
© 2006 Society for General Microbiology
ISSN 1473-5644

Burkholderia cenocepacia utilizes ferritin as an iron source

Paul W. Whitby1, Timothy M. VanWagoner1, Jennifer M. Springer1, Daniel J. Morton1, Thomas W. Seale1 and Terrence L. Stull1,2

Departments of Paediatrics1 and Microbiology/Immunology2 , University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA

Correspondence
Terrence L. Stull
tstull{at}ouhsc.edu

Received 10 June 2005
Accepted 16 February 2006

Burkholderia cenocepacia is a member of the Burkholderia cepacia complex, a group of genetically similar species that inhabit a number of environmental niches, including the lungs of patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). To colonize the lung, this bacterium requires a source of iron to satisfy its nutritional requirements for this important metal. Because of the high potential for damage in lung tissue resulting from oxygen–iron interactions, this metal is sequestered by a number of mechanisms that render it potentially unavailable to invading micro-organisms. Such mechanisms include the intracellular and extracellular presence of the iron-binding protein ferritin. Ferritin has a highly stable macromolecular structure and may contain up to 4500 iron atoms per molecule. To date, there has been no known report of a pathogenic bacterial species that directly utilizes iron sequestered by this macromolecule. To examine the ability of ferritin to support growth of B. cenocepacia J2315, iron-deficient media were supplemented with different concentrations of ferritin and the growth kinetics characterized over a 40 h period. The results indicated that B. cenocepacia J2315 utilizes iron bound by ferritin. Further studies examining the mechanisms of iron uptake from ferritin indicated that iron utilization results from a proteolytic degradation of this otherwise stable macromolecular structure. Since it is known that the ferritin concentration is significantly higher in the CF lung than in healthy lungs, this novel iron-acquisition mechanism may contribute to infection by B. cenocepacia in people with CF.

Abbreviations: AEBSF, 4-(2-aminoethyl)benzenesulfonyl fluoride; Bcc, Burkholderia cepacia complex; CF, cystic fibrosis; EDDHA, ethylenediamine-N,N'bis(o-hydroxyphenyl)acetic acid.




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