Abstract:
Iron being one of the most important elements required for metabolic activities of the bacteria has limited bioavailability. Therefore bacteria produce siderophores to sequester it from the environment. Halophilic and halotolerant adhered bacteria from the mangrove ecosystem were screened for the production of siderophores. Out of a total of 16 bacterial isolates 81 percent showed siderophore production. The effect of zerovalent iron (ZVI) nanoparticles was studied on the production of these siderophores. Among a total of 13 siderophore producing isolates 46.15 percent showed an increase in the siderophore production in the presence of ZVI nanoparticles. The ZVI affected growth negatively in 7 percent of the bacterial isolates.
