Halophilic archaea produce wax esters and use an alternative fatty acyl-coenzyme A reductase for precursor synthesis.

ABSTRACT: Wax esters (WE) are fatty acid-based neutral lipids thought to be restricted to bacteria and eukaryotes, playing a key role in the functioning and maintenance of cells, especially under adverse conditions. Here, we show that several halophilic archaea (Halobacteriales) carry a homolog of the bacterial wax synthase gene. WE synthesis and accumulation are demonstrated in one of these (poly)extremophilic archaea, Natronomonas pharaonis, during growth on long-chain fatty acids. Our bioinformatic analysis also shows that the synthesis of fatty alcohols required for WE synthesis could be performed by an enzyme evolutionarily related to Class-I 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase (HMGR, classically involved in the isoprenoid biosynthesis pathway). Using heterologous expressi

SUBMITTER: Grossi V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11948995 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature