title: Biogenesis of [Fe-S] cluster in Firmicutes: an unexploited field of investigation.
abstract: Iron-sulfur clusters (ISC) ([Fe-S]) are evolutionarily ancient and ubiquitous inorganic prosthetic groups present in almost all living organisms, whose biosynthetic assembly is dependent on complex protein machineries. [Fe-S] clusters are involved in biologically important processes, ranging from electron transfer catalysis to transcriptional regulatory roles. Three different systems involved in [Fe-S] cluster assembly have already been characterized in Proteobacteria, namely, the nitrogen fixation system, the ISC system and the sulfur assimilation system. Although they are well described in various microorganisms, these machineries are poorly characterized in members of the Firmicutes phylum, to which several groups of pathogenic bacteria belong. Recently, several research groups have made efforts to elucidate the biogenesis of [Fe-S] clusters at the molecular level in Firmicutes, and many important characteristics have been described. Considering the pivotal role of [Fe-S] clusters in a number of biological processes, the review presented here focuses on the description of the biosynthetic machineries for [Fe-S] cluster biogenesis in prokaryotes, followed by a discussion on recent results observed for Firmicutes [Fe-S] cluster assembly.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology, Department of Microbiology, Federal University of Health Science of Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Gustavo Pelicioli
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Riboldi
authors.forename: Eduardo Preusser
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: de Mattos
authors.forename: Jeverson
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Frazzon
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D003067:Coenzymes / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D004798:Enzymes / Q000378:metabolism; D006094:Gram-Positive Bacteria / Q000378:metabolism*; D007501:Iron / Q000378:metabolism*; D053858:Metabolic Networks and Pathways; D013455:Sulfur / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D003067:Coenzymes; D004798:Enzymes; D013455:Sulfur; D007501:Iron