title: Iron-source preference of Staphylococcus aureus infections.
abstract: Although bacteria use different iron compounds in vitGro, the possibility that microbes distinguish between these iron sources during infection has hitherto not been examined. We applied stable isotope labeling to detect source-specific iron by mass spectrometry and show that Staphylococcus aureus preferentially imports heme iron over transferrin iron. By combining this approach with computational genome analysis, we identified hts (heme transport system), a gene cluster that promotes preferred heme iron import by S. aureus. Heme iron scavenging by means of hts is required for staphylococcal pathogenesis in animal hosts, indicating that heme iron is the preferred iron source during the initiation of infection.
authors.affiliation: Committee on Microbiology, 920 East 58th Street, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
authors.forename: Eric P
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Skaar
authors.forename: Munir
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Humayun
authors.forename: Taeok
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bae
authors.forename: Kristin L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: DeBord
authors.forename: Olaf
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Schneewind
mesh_terms: D018528:ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D000038:Abscess / Q000382:microbiology; D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D001692:Biological Transport; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000382:microbiology; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D019295:Computational Biology; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000378:metabolism; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D006418:Heme / Q000378:metabolism*; D006427:Hemin / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007501:Iron / Q000378:metabolism*; D007503:Iron Isotopes; D007668:Kidney / Q000382:microbiology; D008099:Liver / Q000382:microbiology; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D016254:Mutagenesis, Insertional; D009876:Operon; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D014168:Transferrin / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D018528:ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D002352:Carrier Proteins; D007503:Iron Isotopes; D014168:Transferrin; D006418:Heme; D006427:Hemin; D007501:Iron