How plant-rotting bacteria steal iron to survive
Thursday, August 2, 2018 - 14:40
in Biology & Nature
In a new study, researchers identify important new insights into a survival mechanism of the bacteria that cause rotting in certain plants, including some highly invasive weeds. The study demonstrates for the first time exactly how the bacterium Pectobacterium obtains the iron vital to its survival and replication: by pirating it from iron-bearing proteins in the host plants.