Archaeal lipids are constituted of two isoprenoid chains connected via ether bonds to glycerol in the sn-2, 3 position. Due to these unique properties archaeal lipids are significantly more stable against high temperature, low pH, oxidation and enzymatic degradation than conventional lipids. Additionally, in members of the phylum Crenarchaeota condensation of two (monopolar) archaeal diether lipids to a single (bipolar) tetraether lipid as well as formation of cyclopentane rings in the isoprenoid core strongly reduce permeability of the crenarchaeal membranes. In this work we show that the Crenarchaeum Sulfolobus acidocaldarius changes its lipid composition as reaction to a shift in growth rate caused by nutrient limitation. We thereby identified a novel influencing factor for the lipid composition of S. acidocaldarius and were able to determine the effect of this factor on the lipid composition by using MALDI-MS for the semi-quantification of an archaeal lipidome: a shift in the specific growth rate during a controlled continuous cultivation of S. acidocaldarius from 0.011 to 0.035 h⁻¹ led to a change in the ratio of diether to tetraether lipids from 1:3 to 1:5 and a decrease of the average number of cyclopentane rings from 5.1 to 4.6.

中文翻译：

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比生长速率对Sulfolobus acidocaldarius脂质组成的影响。

初生脂质由两个异戊二烯链组成，该两个异戊二烯链通过醚键连接到sn -2，3位的甘油。由于这些独特的特性，古细菌脂质比常规脂质在高温，低pH，氧化和酶促降解方面更加稳定。另外，在Crenarchaeota门的成员中，两个（单极性）古细菌二醚脂质缩合为单个（双极性）四醚脂质，以及在类异戊二烯核心中形成环戊烷环强烈降低了crenarchaeal膜的通透性。在这项工作中，我们证明了Crenarchaeum Sulfolobus acidocaldarius改变其脂质组成，以应对因营养限制而导致的生长速率变化。我们由此鉴定了新的用于的脂质组成的影响因素S.热硫化叶菌，并能够通过使用MALDI-MS为古细菌脂质组的半定量确定该因子对脂质组成的影响：在比生长的移位嗜酸链球菌受控连续培养从0.011到0.035 h ^-1的速率导致二醚与四醚脂质的比例从1：3变为1：5，环戊烷环的平均数从5.1降低到4.6。