Functional Assignment of an Enzyme that Catalyzes the Synthesis of an Archaea-Type Ether Lipid in Bacteria

摘要

The universal tree of life divides all organisms into the three phylogenetic domains eukaryota, bacteria, and archaea. A main difference between these domains is the chemical composition of the lipids forming cellular membranes. Phospholipids from bacteria and eukaryota are composed of a sn-glycerol-3-phosphate (G3P) core to which fatty acids are bound via ester linkages, while phospholipids from archaeaconsist of a sn-glycerol-1-phosphate (G1P) with two isopre-noid chains attached by ether bonds (Figure 1).