Abstract 1417 pH Kinetics of the Enzyme DesD

Virulent bacteria rely on iron for survival. One way they compete for and acquire iron is by synthesizing siderophores, which are iron chelators. There are two main pathways to synthesize siderophores: NRPS and NIS. The siderophore desferroxiamine E, is synthesized through the NIS synthesis pathway; the final enzyme of this pathway is NIS synthetase DesD. DesD is a model enzyme for the NIS Synthetases, which are increasingly associated with virulence in bacteria, unique in structure and function, and therefore an excellent drug target.