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The evolution of lipids.

Y H Itoh1, A Sugai, I Uda

  • 1Department of Bioengineering, Faculty of Engineering, Soka University, 1-236 Tangi-cho, Hachioji, Tokyo 192-8577, JAPAN.

Advances in Space Research : the Official Journal of the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR)
|January 24, 2002
PubMed
Summary

The common ancestral cell was likely a thermophilic microorganism. Its cell membrane lipids may have resembled those found in hyperthermophilic archaea today.

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Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Biochemistry
  • Evolutionary Biology

Background:

  • All life on Earth, divided into Archaea, Bacteria, and Eucarya, likely originated from a single common ancestral cell.
  • The presence of thermophilic microorganisms near the base of the phylogenetic tree suggests this ancestral cell was thermophilic.
  • Cell membranes, essential for life, rely on the amphiphilic properties of lipids.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the potential lipid structure of the common ancestral cell.
  • To understand the role of membrane lipid structure in thermophilic microorganisms.
  • To compare lipid structures across different domains of life.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of membrane lipid structures in archaea, bacteria, and eucarya.
  • Focus on tetraether type glycerophospholipids with C40 isoprenoid chains in archaea.
  • Examination of lipid cyclization and covalent bonding in hyperthermophiles.

Main Results:

  • Tetraether lipids with C40 isoprenoid chains are prevalent in archaeal cell membranes.
  • Lipid fluidity is influenced by isoprenoid cyclization in thermophilic archaea and fatty acid properties in bacteria and eucarya.
  • Hyperthermophilic archaea exhibit cyclization and covalent bonding of isoprenoid chains, contributing to physiological roles.

Conclusions:

  • The structure of lipids in the common ancestral cell may have been similar to those of hyperthermophilic archaea.
  • Stereochemical differences in lipids between archaea and other domains likely arose later through protein functions.
  • Lipid structures are critical for survival in extreme environments and provide insights into early life evolution.

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