title: A chimeric siderophore halts swarming Vibrio.
abstract: Some bacteria swarm under some circumstances; they move rapidly and collectively over a surface. In an effort to understand the molecular signals controlling swarming, we isolated two bacterial strains from the same red seaweed, Vibrio alginolyticus B522, a vigorous swarmer, and Shewanella algae B516, which inhibits V. alginolyticus swarming in its vicinity. Plate assays combined with NMR, MS, and X-ray diffraction analyses identified a small molecule, which was named avaroferrin, as a potent swarming inhibitor. Avaroferrin, a previously unreported cyclic dihydroxamate siderophore, is a chimera of two well-known siderophores: putrebactin and bisucaberin. The sequenced genome of S. algae revealed avaroferrin's biosynthetic gene cluster to be a mashup of putrebactin and bisucaberin biosynthetic genes. Avaroferrin blocks swarming through its ability to bind iron in a form that cannot be pirated by V. alginolyticus, thereby securing this essential resource for its producer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, 240 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115 (USA).
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Böttcher
authors.forename: Jon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Clardy
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D001688:Biological Products; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D006877:Hydroxamic Acids / Q000737:chemistry*; D007501:Iron / Q000378:metabolism*; D010456:Peptides, Cyclic / Q000737:chemistry*; D017262:Siderophores / Q000737:chemistry*; D014733:Vibrio / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001688:Biological Products; D006877:Hydroxamic Acids; D010456:Peptides, Cyclic; D017262:Siderophores; C000599724:avaroferrin; D007501:Iron
keywords: evolution; iron; motility; natural products; siderophores