Composite bacterial hopanoids and their microbial producers across oxygen gradients in the water column of the California Current.

ABSTRACT: Hopanoids are pentacyclic triterpenoid lipids produced by many prokaryotes as cell membrane components. The structural variations of composite hopanoids, or bacteriohopanepolyols (BHPs), produced by various bacterial genera make them potentially useful molecular biomarkers of bacterial communities and metabolic processes in both modern and ancient environments. Building on previous work suggesting that organisms in low-oxygen environments are important contributors to BHP production in the marine water column and that there may be physiological roles for BHPs specific to these environments, this study investigated the relationship between trends in BHP structural diversity and abundance and the genetic diversity of BHP producers for the first time in a low-oxygen environment of the Eastern

SUBMITTER: Kharbush JJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3837760 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature