Yersiniabactin (Ybt) is a metal-binding natural product that has been re-purposed for water treatment. The early focus of this study was the characterization of metal binding breadth attributed to Ybt. Using LC-MS analysis of water samples exposed to aqueous and surface-localized Ybt, quantitative assessment of binding was completed with metals that included Pd2+, Mg2+, and Zn2+. In total, Ybt showed affinity for 10 metals. Next, Ybt-modified XAD-16N resin (Ybt-XAD) was utilized to quantify the affinity for metal removal, showing a rank order of Fe3+>Ga3+>Ni2+>Cu2+>Cr2+approximate to Zn2+>Co2+>Pd2+> Mg2+>Al3+, and in the applied treatment of wastewater from a local precious metal plating company, showing selective removal of nickel from the aqueous effluent. (c) 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 33:1548-1554, 2017