No biological role for scandium is known, and microbial interactions with scandium have not been explored extensively. Sc³⁺ binding and transport by the siderophore enterochelin (enterobactin) in Klebsiella pneumoniae (Rogers et al, 1980) and E. coli (Rogers et al, 1982) has been described. Antibacterial effects of Sc³⁺ may result from competitive binding of enterobactin that interferes with Fe³⁺ uptake by bacterial cells (Plaha and Rogers, 1983).

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