CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL STUDIES OF MICROBIAL SIDEROPHORES

*V.K. Srivastava

ABSTRACT

Iron is an essential for the growth of almost all living micro organisms because it acts as Catalyst in enzymatic processes, oxygen metabolism, electron transfer and DNA and RNA syntheses. Siderophores are organic compounds with low molecular masses that are produced by micro organisms and plants growing under low Iron conditions. The primary function of these compounds is to chelate the ferric Iron [FeIII] from different terrestrial and aquatic habitas and thereby make it available for microbial and plant cells. Siderophores have received much attention in recent years because of their potential roles and applications in various fields like environmental, Agriculture, Biosensors, medical field etc. Their significance in these applications is because Siderophores have the ability to bind a variety of metals in addition to Iron and they have a wide range of chemical structures of specific properties.

Keywords: Iron Chelation, Siderophores, Agriculture, Medicine, Biosensor.