title: Identification of iron-regulated genes of Bifidobacterium breve UCC2003 as a basis for controlled gene expression.
abstract: Iron is an essential growth factor for virtually all organisms. However, iron is not readily available in most environments and microorganisms have evolved specialized mechanisms, such as the use of siderophores and high-affinity transport systems, to acquire iron when confronted with iron-limiting conditions. In general these systems are tightly regulated to prevent iron-induced toxicity and because they are quite costly to the microbe. Because of this tight regulation we chose to explore the response of Bifidobacterium breve UCC2003 to iron limitation. Through microarray and complementation analyses we identified and characterized a presumed ferrous iron uptake system, encoded by bfeUOB, from B. breve UCC2003 and exploited its regulated transcription to develop an inducible expression system for use in bifidobacteria.
authors.affiliation: Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre and Department of Microbiology, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cronin
authors.forename: Aldert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zomer
authors.forename: Gerald F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Fitzgerald
authors.forename: Douwe
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: van Sinderen
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D001644:Bifidobacterium / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics*; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D007501:Iron / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017262:Siderophores
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D017262:Siderophores; D007501:Iron