Iron and bacterial virulence--a brief overview.

Iron is now recognized as playing a vital role in infection. Not only does it 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.