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Science 23 December 1983:
Vol. 222. no. 4630, pp. 1329 - 1331
DOI: 10.1126/science.222.4630.1329
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Articles

Membrane Lipid from Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vent Methanogen: a New Macrocyclic Glycerol Diether

PAUL B. COMITA 1 and ROBERT B. GAGOSIAN 1

1 Department of Chemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543

The membrane lipid of a new deep-sea hydrothermal vent methanogen, Methanococcus jannaschii, has been structurally characterized. The hydrolyzed polar lipid of this archaebacterium is primarily (95 percent) a macrocyclic glycerol diether, which has not been described previously. The structure was elucidated by a combination of chemical and spectroscopic techniques. An initial survey of selected methanogens failed to indicate the presence of this membrane lipid in any microorganism other than Methanococcus jannaschii.

Submitted on August 1, 1983
Accepted on October 31, 1983


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Geomicrobiology of Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vents.
H. W. Jannasch, H. W. Jannasch, and M. J. Mottl (1985)
Science 229, 717-725
   Abstract »    PDF »
Molecular Mechanisms of Water and Solute Transport across Archaebacterial Lipid Membranes.
J. C. Mathai, G. D. Sprott, and M. L. Zeidel (2001)
J. Biol. Chem. 276, 27266-27271
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


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