Newly discovered natural compounds from Pandoraea bacteria influence the lung microbiome by competing for iron

An interdisciplinary research team led by the Leibniz-HKI in Jena has discovered a new group of bioactive natural compounds in pathogenic bacteria of the genus Pandoraea: pandorabactins. They enable the bacteria to extract vital iron from other microorganisms and can thus influence the microbial balance in the human lung. The results of the study were published in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition.