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Iron and bacterial virulence — a brief overview

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Summary

Iron is now recognized as playing a vital role in infection. Not only does its restricted availability in tissue fluids present microbial pathogens with the problem of acquiring sufficient for multiplication in vivo, but it also constitutes a major environmental signal which co-ordinately regulates the expression of a number of virulence and metabolic genes. Progress in understanding the strategies used by pathogens for acquiring iron in vivo, and their responses to iron restriction, is providing a fresh insight into microbial pathogenicity.

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Griffiths, E. Iron and bacterial virulence — a brief overview. Biol Metals 4, 7–13 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01135551

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