A modeling and simulation study of siderophore mediated antagonism in dual-species biofilms

摘要

BackgroundSeveral bacterial species possess chelation mechanisms that allow them to scavenge iron from the environment under conditions of limitation. To this end they produce siderophores that bind the iron and make it available to the cells later on, while rendering it unavailable to other organisms. The phenomenon of siderophore mediated antagonism has been studied to some extent for suspended populations where it was found that the chelation ability provides a growth advantage over species that do not have this possibility. However, most bacteria live in biofilm communities. In particular Pseudomonas fluorescens and Pseudomonas putida, the species that have been used in most experimental studies of the phenomenon, are known to be prolific biofilm formers, but only very few experimental studies of iron chelation have been published to date for the biofilm setting. We address this question in the present study.