Iron uptake and transport by the carboxymycobactin-mycobactin siderophore machinery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is dependent on the iron-regulated protein HupB.

Iron-starved Mycobacterium tuberculosis utilises the carboxymycobactin-mycobactin siderophore machinery to acquire iron. These two siderophores have high affinity for ferric iron and can withdraw the metal ion from insoluble iron hydroxides and iron-binding proteins. We first reported HupB, a multi-functional mycobacterial protein to be associated with iron acquisition in M.