Life with Boron: Microbial Boron-Binding Siderophores, Adaptation, and Function

Life with Boron: Microbial Boron-Binding Siderophores, Adaptation, and Function Full article

Journal

Microbiology Research
ISSN: 2036-7481

Output data

Year: 2026, Volume: 17, Number: 3, Article number : 57, Pages count : 32 DOI: 10.3390/microbiolres17030057

Authors

Dembitsky Valery M. ¹ , Terent’ev Alexander O. ¹ , Baranin Sergey V. ¹

Affiliations

1	N.D. Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 47 Leninsky Prospect, Moscow 119991, Russia

Siderophores are classically understood as microbial iron-acquisition metabolites: lowmolecular-weight ligands secreted by bacteria to solubilize and transport Fe(III) under iron-limited conditions. In this review, we expand that paradigm by highlighting an emerging and underappreciated chemical axis—boron coordination by siderophores—that links terrestrial (soil/rhizosphere) and marine microbiomes. Across diverse bacterial taxa, siderophore production is widespread and central to competitive fitness because Fe(III) is poorly soluble and frequently sequestered in environmental or host matrices. Yet in boronrich settings (seawater and borate-enriched soils), the same oxygen-donor architectures that support Fe(III) chelation can also engage boron chemistry. We synthesize evidence that carboxylate/α-hydroxyacid (dicitrate-type) and catecholate siderophores can form tetrahedral borate/boronate complexes, whereas hydroxamate siderophores generally lack the vicinal dianionic O,O motif required for stable boron binding. Structurally characterized examples—including vibrioferrin, rhizoferrin, and petrobactin—demonstrate that boron complexation is experimentally observable by ESI-MS and multinuclear NMR and can be modulated by pH and microenvironment. Integrating these findings with datasets on boron-tolerant bacteria, we propose that when iron is scarce and boron is available, boron–siderophore complexation becomes chemically feasible and may influence microbial physiology by altering ligand conformation, metal selectivity, and potentially extracellular signaling behavior—especially in marine systems where borate is abundant at oceanic pH. Overall, this review frames boron-binding siderophores as a cross-ecosystem phenomenon and a promising conceptual bridge between environmental boron geochemistry, microbial metal economy, and metalloid-mediated signaling.

Dembitsky V.M. , Terent’ev A.O. , Baranin S.V.
Life with Boron: Microbial Boron-Binding Siderophores, Adaptation, and Function
Microbiology Research. 2026. V.17. N3. 57 :1-32. DOI: 10.3390/microbiolres17030057 OpenAlex

Submitted:	Feb 26, 2026
Accepted:	Mar 5, 2026
Published online:	Mar 9, 2026

≡ OpenAlex:

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