title: Pyoverdines: pigments, siderophores and potential taxonomic markers of fluorescent Pseudomonas species.
abstract: Pyoverdine, the yellow-green, water-soluble, fluorescent pigment of the fluorescent Pseudomonas species, is a powerful iron(III) scavenger and an efficient iron(III) transporter. As a fluorescent pigment, it represents a ready marker for bacterial differentiation and, as a siderophore, it plays an important physiological function in satisfying the absolute iron requirement of these strictly aerobic bacteria. Close to 40 structurally different pyoverdines have been identified to date, each characterized by a different peptidic part of the molecule and by a very narrow specificity as an iron transporter for Pseudomonas species, usually restricted to the producer strain or to strains producing an identical compound. Cross-reactivity does occur, however, for pyoverdines exhibiting partial identity at the peptide chain level, suggesting some information on the receptor-recognition site of the molecule. With the recent description of an operonic cluster of four genes involved in the synthesis of the chromophoric part of the molecule, a total of seven pyoverdine biosynthetic genes have been identified so far in Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1. Although the precise function of the gene products needs further clarification, a biosynthetic pathway based on a multienzyme thiotemplate mechanism allowing a step-by-step synthesis of the whole chromopeptide molecule can be postulated. A promising future is expected from recent developments which indicate that pyoverdines might be considered as potent and easy-to-handle taxonomic markers for the fluorescent species of the genus Pseudomonas.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Microbiologie et Génétique, UPRES-A 7010, Université Louis-Pasteur, Strasbourg, France. meyer@gem.u-strasbg.fr
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Meyer
mesh_terms: D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D009842:Oligopeptides; D010860:Pigments, Biological / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D011549:Pseudomonas / Q000737:chemistry / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D017262:Siderophores / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D009842:Oligopeptides; D010860:Pigments, Biological; D017262:Siderophores; C042453:pyoverdin