Production of amphiphilic siderophores for bioflotation process

Siderophores are small organic molecules with a high affinity for binding Fe(III) and to form strong complexes also with other metals. They are produced by microorganisms (aerobic bacteria and fungi) and some plants to equalize the low bioavailability of iron in their environment.
A lot of microorganisms and their produced siderophores have already been identified and analyzed in detail. Until now, siderophores are only used as medicine against iron or heavy metal poisoning. The biotechnological production offers the application in very different fields, like extraction, recovery and treating of different metals. Especially the group of amphiphilic siderophores are very interesting for the classical froth flotation process. The aim of this study is the optimized and efficient biotechnological production of the amphiphilic siderophore Marinobactin by the marine bacterium Marinobacter sp. DS40M6 and to show for the first time that it is possible to use these biomolecules in froth flotation process.