title: A re-evaluation of the archaeal membrane lipid biosynthetic pathway.
abstract: Archaea produce unique membrane lipids in which isoprenoid alkyl chains are bound to glycerol moieties via ether linkages. As cultured representatives of the Archaea have become increasingly available throughout the past decade, archaeal genomic and membrane lipid-composition data have also become available. In this Analysis article, we compare the amino acid sequences of the key enzymes of the archaeal ether-lipid biosynthesis pathway and critically evaluate past studies on the biochemical functions of these enzymes. We propose an alternative archaeal lipid biosynthetic pathway that is based on a 'multiple-key, multiple-lock' mechanism.
authors.affiliation: Department of Marine Organic Biogeochemistry, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), PO Box 59, NL-1790 AB Den Burg, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Villanueva
authors.affiliation: Department of Marine Organic Biogeochemistry, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), PO Box 59, NL-1790 AB Den Burg, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jaap S Sinninghe
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Damsté
authors.affiliation: Department of Marine Organic Biogeochemistry, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), PO Box 59, NL-1790 AB Den Burg, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schouten
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001105:Archaea / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology*; D019843:Archaeal Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000502:physiology*; D019848:Gene Expression Regulation, Archaeal / Q000502:physiology; D008563:Membrane Lipids / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000737:chemistry; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D015394:Molecular Structure
chemical_list: D019843:Archaeal Proteins; D008563:Membrane Lipids