Fungal siderophores in plant-microbe interactions.

Siderophores are low-molecular-weight high specificity, ferric iron chelating agents. They are produced under iron starvation by most microorganisms. Systems such as siderophores, involved in the acquisition of iron under iron limited conditions, may play a major role in microbial interactions. Some siderophores are virulence factors in animal and in plant pathogens. Moreover, siderophores have been demonstrated to play a major role in plant disease suppression by some bacterial biocontrol agents which inhibit the growth or the activity of plant pathogens by sequestering iron. This latest type of mechanism has been extensively studied in bacteria. However, the role of these iron chelating compounds in disease suppression by fungal biocontrol agents has not been clearly determined.