Marine-derived Fungal Siderophores: A Perception

Siderophores play crucial role in biogeochemical cycle in terrestrial as well as marine environment. Siderophores of bacteria from marine habitats have been extensively studied, however, comparatively less information is available on their fungal counter parts. This review focuses on siderophores of marine-derived fungi, molecular mechanism of siderophore biosynthesis and their uptake. Their chemical nature and applications are also discussed. Data so far available on marine fungal siderophores are found to be very interesting. Though less explored, the information available reveals novelty in chemical nature of siderophores of marine-derived fungi, i.e. occurrence of catecholates in fungi and carboxylates in non-mucoraceous fungi, which is the first-ever report. Further investigations on marine-derived fungal siderophores would be an interesting area of research.