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The major lipid cores of the archaeon Ignisphaera aggregans: implications for the phylogeny and biosynthesis of glycerol monoalkyl glycerol tetraether isoprenoid lipids

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Abstract

The lipid cores from Ignisphaera aggregans, a hyperthermophilic Crenarchaeon recently isolated from New Zealand hot springs, have been profiled by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. The distribution revealed includes relatively high proportions of monoalkyl (also known as H-shaped) tetraether cores which have previously been implicated as kingdom-specific biomarkers for the Euryarchaeota. Such high expression of monoalkyl tetraether lipids is unusual in the archaeal domain and may indicate that formation of these components is an adaptive mechanism that allows I. aggregans to regulate membrane behaviour at high temperatures. The observed dialkyl tetraether and monoalkyl tetraether lipid distributions are similar but not fully concordant, showing differences in the average number of incorporated rings. The similarity supports a biosynthetic route to the ring-containing dialkyl and monoalkyl tetraether lipids via a dialkyl tetraether core containing zero rings, or a closely related structural relative, as an intermediate. Currently, however, the precise nature of the biosynthetic route to these lipids cannot be deduced.

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Abbreviations

CID:

Collision-induced dissociation

Cp:

Cyclopentyl

Da:

Daltons

DCM:

Dichloromethane

GDD:

Glycerol dialkyl diether

GDGT:

Glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether

GMD:

Glycerol monoalkyl diether

GMGT:

Glycerol monoalkyl glycerol tetraether

GTGT:

Glycerol trialkyl glycerol tetraether

LC–MS/MS:

Liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

[M+H]+ :

Protonated molecule

APCI:

Atmospheric pressure chemical ionisation

ESI:

Electrospray ionisation

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge support for this study by a scholarship from the University of York. James Chong (University of York, UK; M. thermautotrophicus) and Michael Danson (University of Bath, UK; S. solfataricus and S. shibatae) are thanked for provision of the cellular material used to tune the mass spectrometer and verify the GDGT lipid assignments in I. aggregans, respectively. Two anonymous reviewers are also thanked for their constructive comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, UK

    Chris S. Knappy & Brendan J. Keely

  2. Centre for Extremophile Research, University of Bath, Bath, BA2 7AY, UK

    Charlotte E. M. Nunn

  3. Thermophile Research Unit, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand

    Hugh W. Morgan

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  1. Chris S. Knappy
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  2. Charlotte E. M. Nunn
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  3. Hugh W. Morgan
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  4. Brendan J. Keely
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Correspondence to Brendan J. Keely.

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Communicated by A. Driessen.

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Knappy, C.S., Nunn, C.E.M., Morgan, H.W. et al. The major lipid cores of the archaeon Ignisphaera aggregans: implications for the phylogeny and biosynthesis of glycerol monoalkyl glycerol tetraether isoprenoid lipids. Extremophiles 15, 517–528 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00792-011-0382-3

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