<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Biotin (vitamin B<jats:sub>7</jats:sub>) is involved in a wide range of essential biochemical reactions and a crucial micronutrient that is vital for many pro- and eukaryotic organisms. The few biotin measurements in the world’s oceans show that availability is subject to strong fluctuations. Numerous marine microorganisms exhibit biotin auxotrophy and therefore rely on supply by other organisms. Desthiobiotin is the primary precursor of biotin and has recently been detected at concentrations similar to biotin in seawater. The last enzymatic reaction in the biotin biosynthetic pathway converts desthiobiotin to biotin via the biotin synthase (BioB). The role of desthiobiotin as a precursor of biotin synthesis in microbial systems, however, is largely unknown. Here we demonstrate experimentally that bacteria can overcome biotin auxotrophy if they retain the <jats:italic>bioB</jats:italic> gene and desthiobiotin is available. A genomic search of 1068 bacteria predicts that the biotin biosynthetic potential varies greatly among different phylogenetic groups and that 20% encode solely <jats:italic>bioB</jats:italic> and thus can potentially overcome biotin auxotrophy. Many <jats:italic>Actino</jats:italic>- and <jats:italic>Alphaproteobacteria</jats:italic> cannot synthesize biotin de novo, but some possess solely <jats:italic>bioB</jats:italic>, whereas the vast majority of <jats:italic>Gammaproteobacteria</jats:italic> and <jats:italic>Flavobacteriia</jats:italic> exhibit the last four crucial biotin synthesis genes. We detected high intra- and extracellular concentrations of the precursor relative to biotin in the prototrophic bacterium, <jats:italic>Vibrio campbellii</jats:italic>, with extracellular desthiobiotin reaching up to 1.09 ± 0.15*10<jats:sup>6</jats:sup> molecules per cell during exponential growth. Our results provide evidence for the ecological role of desthiobiotin as an escape route to overcome biotin auxotrophy for bacteria in the ocean and presumably in other ecosystems.</jats:p>