Schouten Stefan, Baas Marianne, Hopmans Ellen C, Reysenbach Anna-Louise, Damsté Jaap S Sinninghe
Department of Marine Biogeochemistry and Toxicology, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, PO Box 59, 1790 AB Den Burg, Texel, The Netherlands.
Extremophiles. 2008 Jan;12(1):119-24. doi: 10.1007/s00792-007-0111-0. Epub 2007 Sep 28.
The lipid composition of Candidatus "Aciduliprofundum boonei", the only cultivated representative of archaea falling in the DHVE2 phylogenetic cluster, a group of microorganisms ubiquitously occurring at hydrothermal vents, was studied. The predominant core membrane lipids in this thermophilic euryarchaeote were found to be composed of glycerol dibiphytanyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs) containing 0-4 cyclopentyl moieties. In addition, GDGTs with an additional covalent bond between the isoprenoid hydrocarbon chains, so-called H-shaped GDGTs, were present. The latter core lipids have been rarely reported previously. Intact polar lipid analysis revealed that they predominantly consist of GDGTs with a phospho-glycerol headgroup.