Yersinopine, a nicotianamine-like metallophore, was recently identified through biochemical analyses, but its in vivo production and functional role remain uncharacterized. In Yersinia pseudotuberculosis and its recent descendant Yersinia pestis , the cnt operon ( cntPQRLMI ) putatively encodes the biosynthesis and transport of yersinopine. In Y. pestis , however, two frameshift mutations disrupt cntQ , which encodes the predi...