N,N′-di(2-hydroxybenzoyl)-ethylenediamine-N,N′-diacetic acid (HBED) is a very strong Fe3+ chelator. Strategy I vascular plants, which use a reductive system for iron acquisition, similar to many green algae, are able to access iron from HBED (R.L. Chaney. 1988. J. Plant Nutr. 11: 1033–1050). However, iron-limited cells of the Strategy I green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii Dangeard were unable to access iron present as Fe3+–HBED. In contrast, Fe3+ chelated with hydroxyethylethylenediaminetriacetic acid (HEDTA; a weaker chelator) was rapidly taken up by iron-limited Chlamydomonas cells. Chlamydomonas ferric reduction rates with Fe3+–HBED were approximately 15% of the rate observed with Fe3+–HEDTA, suggesting that low reduction rates with Fe3+–HBED might be one factor in the low rate of iron acquisition. By contrast, iron-limited cells of the Strategy I green alga Chlorella kessleri Fott et Nováková were able to rapidly assimilate Fe3+ chelated by HBED, although ferric reduction rates with Fe3+–HBED were approximately 38% the rate of activity with Fe3+–HEDTA. Similar differential iron uptake rates for the two algal species were obtained using the strong Fe3+ chelator (and siderophore analogue) desferrioxamine B mesylate and the cyanobacterial siderophore schizokinen. These results suggest that there are differences among Strategy I green algae in their abilities to acquire Fe3+ from various ferric chelates: not all Strategy I algae can equally access tightly complexed Fe3+. Chlamydomonas appears to be the first documented Strategy I organism that is unable to acquire iron from Fe3+–HBED. These results also suggest that green algal iron acquisition from siderophores is species dependent. Finally, we suggest that iron acquisition from Fe3+–HBED might serve as an assay for an organisms’ ability to access tightly complexed iron.
