The advent of heme during evolution allowed organisms possessing this compound to
safely and efficiently carry out a variety of chemical reactions that otherwise were difficult or …

In the ancient anaerobic environment, ferrous iron (Fe2+) was one of the first metal
cofactors. Oxygenation of the ancient world challenged bacteria to acquire the insoluble …

Control of metal homeostasis is essential for life in all kingdoms. In most prokaryotic
organisms the FUR (ferric uptake regulator) family of transcriptional regulators is involved in …

The transition or d-block metal ions manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc and to a
more specialized degree molybdenum, tungsten, and vanadium have been shown to be …

Iron is an essential micronutrient, and, in the case of bacteria, its availability is commonly a
growth-limiting factor. However, correct functioning of cells requires that the labile pool of …

Iron is both an essential nutrient for the growth of microorganisms, as well as a dangerous
metal due to its capacity to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) via the Fenton reaction …

The ferric uptake regulator (Fur) protein, as originally described in Escherichia coli, is an iron-
sensing repressor that controls the expression of genes for siderophore biosynthesis and …

We describe a comprehensive detection system for 18 kinds of classical and newly
described staphylococcal superantigenic toxin genes using four sets of multiplex PCR …

Two areas of research have recently converged to highlight important roles for Mn2+ in
pathogenesis: the recognition that both bacterial Nramp homologs and members of LraI …

All organisms must regulate the cellular uptake, efflux, and intracellular trafficking of
essential elements, including d-block metal ions. In bacteria, such regulation is achieved by …