Planktonic Euryarchaeota are a significant source of archaeal tetraether lipids in the ocean.

ABSTRACT: Archaea are ubiquitous in marine plankton, and fossil forms of archaeal tetraether membrane lipids in sedimentary rocks document their participation in marine biogeochemical cycles for >100 million years. Ribosomal RNA surveys have identified four major clades of planktonic archaea but, to date, tetraether lipids have been characterized in only one, the Marine Group I Thaumarchaeota. The membrane lipid composition of the other planktonic archaeal groups--all uncultured Euryarchaeota--is currently unknown. Using integrated nucleic acid and lipid analyses, we found that Marine Group II Euryarchaeota (MG-II) contributed significantly to the tetraether lipid pool in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre at shallow to intermediate depths. Our data strongly suggested that MG-II also synthesize cren

SUBMITTER: Lincoln SA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4103328 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature