Iron is an essential micro-nutrient and, in the case of bacteria, its availability is commonly a growth-limiting factor. However, correct functioning of cells requires that the labile pool of chelatable ‘free’ iron is tightly regulated. Correct metalation of proteins requiring iron as a cofactor demands that such a readily accessible source of iron exists, but over-accumulation results in an oxidative burden that, if unchecked, would lead to cell death. The toxicity of iron stems from its potential to catalyze formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that, in addition to causing damage to biological molecules, can also lead to the formation of reactive nitrogen species (RNS). In order to avoid iron-mediated oxidative stress, bacteria utilize iron-dependent global regulators to sense the iron status of the cell and regulate the expression of proteins involved in the acquisition, storage and efflux of iron accordingly. Here, we survey the current understanding of the structure and mechanism of the important members of each of these classes of protein. Diversity in the details of iron homeostasis mechanisms reflect the differing nutritional stresses resulting from the wide variety of ecological niches that bacteria inhabit. However, in this review we seek to highlight the similarities of iron homeostasis between different bacteria, whilst acknowledging important variations. In this way we hope to illustrate how bacteria have evolved common approaches to overcome the dual problems of the insolubility and potential toxicity of iron.

The reactivity of protein bound iron−sulfur clusters with nitric oxide (NO) is well documented, but little is known about the actual mechanism of cluster nitrosylation. Here, we report studies of members of the Wbl family of [4Fe−4S] containing proteins, which play key roles in regulating developmental processes in actinomycetes, including Streptomyces and Mycobacteria, and have been shown to be NO responsive. Streptomyces coelicolor WhiD and Mycobacterium tuberculosis WhiB1 react extremely rapidly with NO in a multiphasic reaction involving, remarkably, 8 NO molecules per [4Fe−4S] cluster. The reaction is 10⁴-fold faster than that observed with O₂ and is by far the most rapid iron−sulfur cluster nitrosylation reaction reported to date. An overall stoichiometry of [Fe₄S₄(Cys)₄]²⁻ + 8NO → 2[Fe^I₂(NO)₄(Cys)₂]⁰ + S²⁻ + 3S⁰ has been established by determination of the sulfur products and their oxidation states. Kinetic analysis leads to a four-step mechanism that accounts for the observed NO dependence. DFT calculations suggest the possibility that the nitrosylation product is a novel cluster [Fe^I₄(NO)₈(Cys)₄]⁰ derived by dimerization of a pair of Roussin’s red ester (RRE) complexes.

The regulatory protein NsrR, a member of the Rrf2 family of transcription repressors, is specifically dedicated to sensing nitric oxide (NO) in a variety of pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacteria. It has been proposed that NO directly modulates NsrR activity by interacting with a predicted [Fe-S] cluster in the NsrR protein, but no experimental evidence has been published to support this hypothesis. Here we report the purification of NsrR from the obligate aerobe Streptomyces coelicolor. We demonstrate using UV-visible, near UV CD and EPR spectroscopy that the protein contains an NO-sensitive [2Fe-2S] cluster when purified from E. coli. Upon exposure of NsrR to NO, the cluster is nitrosylated, which results in the loss of DNA binding activity as detected by bandshift assays. Removal of the [2Fe-2S] cluster to generate apo-NsrR also resulted in loss of DNA binding activity. This is the first demonstration that NsrR contains an NO-sensitive [2Fe-2S] cluster that is required for DNA binding activity.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a major pathogen that has the ability to establish, and emerge from, a persistent state. Wbl family proteins are associated with developmental processes in actinomycetes, and M. tuberculosis has seven such proteins. In the present study it is shown that the M. tuberculosis H37Rv whiB1 gene is essential. The WhiB1 protein possesses a [4Fe-4S]²⁺ cluster that is stable in air but reacts rapidly with eight equivalents of nitric oxide to yield two dinuclear dinitrosyl-iron thiol complexes. The [4Fe-4S] form of WhiB1 did not bind whiB1 promoter DNA, but the reduced and oxidized apo-WhiB1, and nitric oxide-treated holo-WhiB1 did bind to DNA. Mycobacterium smegmatis RNA polymerase induced transcription of whiB1 in vitro; however, in the presence of apo-WhiB1, transcription was severely inhibited, irrespective of the presence or absence of the CRP (cAMP receptor protein) Rv3676, which is known to activate whiB1 expression. Footprinting suggested that autorepression of whiB1 is achieved by apo-WhiB1 binding at a region that overlaps the core promoter elements. A model incorporating regulation of whiB1 expression in response to nitric oxide and cAMP is discussed with implications for sensing two important signals in establishing M. tuberculosis infections.