The archaea-bacteria lipid divide is one of the big evolutionary enigmas concerning these two domains of life. In short, bacterial membranes are made of fatty-acid esters whereas archaeal ones contain isoprenoid ethers, though at present we do not have a good understanding on why they evolved differently. The lateral proton transfer mode of energy transduction in membranes posits that protons utilize the solvation layer of the membrane interface as the main route between proton pumps and ATPases, avoiding dissipation of energy to the bulk phase. In this article I present the hypothesis on a proton-transport route through the ester groups of bacterial phospholipids as an explanation for the evolutionary divergence seen between bacteria and archaea. REVIEWERS: This article was reviewed by Uri Gophna (Editorial Board member) and Víctor Sojo.

中文翻译：

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古细菌与细菌的脂质分歧，独特的侧向质子路线能否给出答案？


古细菌和细菌的脂质鸿沟是这两个生命领域的重大进化谜团之一。简而言之，细菌膜是由脂肪酸酯组成的，而古细菌膜则含有类异戊二烯醚，尽管目前我们还没有很好地理解为什么它们的进化方式不同。膜中能量传导的横向质子转移模式假设质子利用膜界面的溶剂化层作为质子泵和ATP酶之间的主要路径，避免能量耗散到体相。在本文中，我提出了通过细菌磷脂酯基的质子传输途径的假设，作为细菌和古细菌之间进化分歧的解释。审稿人：本文由 Uri Gophna（编辑委员会成员）和 Víctor Sojo 审阅。