Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40595503›Full record

ArticleNature communications2025

The iron chelator pulcherriminic acid mediates the light response in Bacillus subtilis biofilms.

Kazuo Kobayashi, Rie Kurata, Takayuki Tohge

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Review
  3. Pulcherriminic acid relay; aFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2025
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Kazuo KobayashiDivision of Biological Science, Graduate School of Science and Technology, Nara Institute of Science and Technology, 8916-5 Takayama-cho, Ikoma, Nara, 630-0192, Japan. kazuok@bs.naist.jp.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7052-6759
Rie KurataNAIST Life Science Collaboration Center (LiSCo), Graduate School of Science and Technology, Nara Institute of Science and Technology, 8916-5 Takayama-cho, Ikoma, Nara, 630-0192, Japan.
Takayuki TohgeDivision of Biological Science, Graduate School of Science and Technology, Nara Institute of Science and Technology, 8916-5 Takayama-cho, Ikoma, Nara, 630-0192, Japan.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5555-5650

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Non-photosynthetic bacteria often respond to changes in light. These responses are usually regulated by photoreceptor proteins, but the mechanism of light response in biofilms is poorly understood. Here, we show that colony biofilms of Bacillus subtilis display light responses that are not dependent on typical photoreceptor proteins. Under light, B. subtilis biofilms do not mature and instead keep on expanding, resulting in thin, smooth colonies with low pigmentation. Similar effects have been previously observed upon inhibition of the biosynthesis or export of pulcherriminic acid, an iron chelator known to inhibit colony expansion by reducing extracellular iron levels. We show that light induces spontaneous degradation of pulcherriminic acid. In addition, Fe

Indexed as

Bacillus subtilisBiofilmsIron Chelating AgentsLightBacterial ProteinsGene Expression Regulation, BacterialIronOperonPromoter Regions, GeneticBacterial ProteinsIronIron Chelating Agents

Identifiers

PMID40595503
PMCPMC12218504

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.