TY - JOUR
T1 - Structural diversity of diether lipids in carbonate chimneys at the Lost City Hydrothermal Field
AU - Bradley, Alexander S.
AU - Fredricks, Helen
AU - Hinrichs, Kai Uwe
AU - Summons, Roger E.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors wish to thank Dr. Deborah Kelley and members of the Lost City Team for the opportunity to participate in the 2003 cruise and for assistance in collecting samples. In particular, Dr. John Hayes provided constant support and mentorship throughout the course of this research. We also gratefully acknowledge Florence Schubotz for discussion and assistance with spectral interpretation. An anonymous reviewer provided comments which helped us to improve the original manuscript. Our funding sources were the NASA Graduate Research Program (ASB) with support provided by Tori Hoehler and Linda Jahnke, the National Science Foundation OCE and Biogeosciences Programs (Awards 0452410 and 0525453 to RES), the Agouron Institute (ASB & RES) and the NASA Astrobiology Institute (HFF & KUH).
PY - 2009/12
Y1 - 2009/12
N2 - The Lost City Hydrothermal Field hosts a distinctive microbial ecosystem that is supported by the products of serpentinization reactions. The calcium carbonate chimneys here contain abundant isoprenoidal and non-isoprenoidal ether lipids, the structural diversity of which is similar to that found in carbonate crusts at cold seeps where anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) is the dominant biogeochemical process. The microbial community at Lost City includes abundant archaea, which largely belong to a single phylotype within the methanogenic Methanosarcinales. Isoprenoidal diethers derived from these archaea have polar head groups comprising phosphatidylglycerol or monoglycosyl moieties, although many isoprenoidal diethers detected in these carbonates lack head groups. The non-isoprenoidal diether lipids at Lost City are largely glycolipids. Glycosydic non-isoprenoidal diethers have not previously been reported from any environments or bacterial isolates. Glycolipids are common in archaea where they contain isoprenoidal hydrocarbon cores ether linked to glycerol. Glycolipids also occur in some bacteria and in these non-isoprenoidal fatty acid chains are ester linked to glycerol. However, the glycosylated non-isoprenoidal diether lipids at Lost City contain a previously undetected combination of archaeal and bacterial traits that might be an adaptive response to the vent environment. We hypothesize that utilization of glycosyl head groups instead of phosphatidyl head groups is a strategy for conservation of phosphate by organisms growing in fluids low in this essential nutrient.
AB - The Lost City Hydrothermal Field hosts a distinctive microbial ecosystem that is supported by the products of serpentinization reactions. The calcium carbonate chimneys here contain abundant isoprenoidal and non-isoprenoidal ether lipids, the structural diversity of which is similar to that found in carbonate crusts at cold seeps where anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) is the dominant biogeochemical process. The microbial community at Lost City includes abundant archaea, which largely belong to a single phylotype within the methanogenic Methanosarcinales. Isoprenoidal diethers derived from these archaea have polar head groups comprising phosphatidylglycerol or monoglycosyl moieties, although many isoprenoidal diethers detected in these carbonates lack head groups. The non-isoprenoidal diether lipids at Lost City are largely glycolipids. Glycosydic non-isoprenoidal diethers have not previously been reported from any environments or bacterial isolates. Glycolipids are common in archaea where they contain isoprenoidal hydrocarbon cores ether linked to glycerol. Glycolipids also occur in some bacteria and in these non-isoprenoidal fatty acid chains are ester linked to glycerol. However, the glycosylated non-isoprenoidal diether lipids at Lost City contain a previously undetected combination of archaeal and bacterial traits that might be an adaptive response to the vent environment. We hypothesize that utilization of glycosyl head groups instead of phosphatidyl head groups is a strategy for conservation of phosphate by organisms growing in fluids low in this essential nutrient.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=70350575219&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.orggeochem.2009.09.004
DO - 10.1016/j.orggeochem.2009.09.004
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:70350575219
SN - 0146-6380
VL - 40
SP - 1169
EP - 1178
JO - Organic Geochemistry
JF - Organic Geochemistry
IS - 12
ER -