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Effect of growth temperature on ether lipid biochemistry in Archaeoglobus fulgidus

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Abstract

The archaea are distinguished by their unique isoprenoid ether lipids, which typically consist of the sn-2,3-diphytanylglycerol diether or sn-2,3-dibiphytanyldiglycerol tetraether core modified with a variety of polar headgroups. However, many hyperthermophilic archaea also synthesize tetraether lipids with up to four pentacyclic rings per 40-carbon chain, presumably to improve membrane thermal stability at temperatures up to∼110 °C. This study aimed to correlate the ratio of tetraether to diether core lipid, as well as the presence of pentacyclic groups in tetraether lipids, with growth temperature for the hyperthermophilic archaeon, Archaeoglobus fulgidus. Analysis of the membrane core lipids of A. fulgidus using APCI–MS analysis revealed that the tetraether-to-diether lipid ratio increases from 0.3 ± 0.1 for cultures grown at 70°C to 0.9 ± 0.1 for cultures grown at 89°C. Thin-layer chromatography (TLC) followed by APCI–MS analysis provided evidence for no more than one pentacycle in the hydrocarbon chains of tetraether lipid from cultures grown at 70°C and up to 2 pentacycles in the tetraether lipid from cultures grown at higher temperatures. Analysis of the polar lipid extract using TLC and negative-ion ESI–MS suggested the presence of diether and tetraether phospholipids with inositol, glycosyl, and ethanolamine headgroup chemistry.

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Abbreviations

TLC:

Thin-layer chromatography

APCI:

Atmospheric pressure chemical ionization

ESI:

Electrospray ionization

MS:

Mass spectrometry

GLC:

Gas–liquid chromatography

HPLC:

High performance liquid chromatography

TE:

Tetraether lipid

DE:

Diether lipid

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a NIH Metabolic Engineering Grant (5 R01 GM077627). Technical assistance, use of laboratory facilities and supplies were kindly provided by Dr. Imke Schroeder and Dr. Robert Gunsalus of the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics at UCLA. Help with the mass spectral analyses was kindly provided by Alek Dooley and Dr. Kym Faull in the Pasarow Mass Spectrometry Laboratory at UCLA. Purchase of mass spectrometric instrumentation was made with help from the W.M. Keck Foundation and the Pasarow Family Fund.

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  1. Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, 5531 Boelter Hall, 420 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA

    Denton Lai, James R. Springstead & Harold G. Monbouquette

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  1. Denton Lai
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  2. James R. Springstead
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  3. Harold G. Monbouquette
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Correspondence to Harold G. Monbouquette.

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Communicated by F. Robb.

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Lai, D., Springstead, J.R. & Monbouquette, H.G. Effect of growth temperature on ether lipid biochemistry in Archaeoglobus fulgidus . Extremophiles 12, 271–278 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00792-007-0126-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00792-007-0126-6

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