Influence of ammonia oxidation rate on thaumarchaeal lipid composition and the TEX86 temperature proxy.

ABSTRACT: Archaeal membrane lipids known as glycerol dibiphytanyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs) are the basis of the TEX86 paleotemperature proxy. Because GDGTs preserved in marine sediments are thought to originate mainly from planktonic, ammonia-oxidizing Thaumarchaeota, the basis of the correlation between TEX86 and sea surface temperature (SST) remains unresolved: How does TEX86 predict surface temperatures, when maximum thaumarchaeal activity occurs below the surface mixed layer and TEX86 does not covary with in situ growth temperatures? Here we used isothermal studies of the model thaumarchaeon Nitrosopumilus maritimus SCM1 to investigate how GDGT composition changes in response to ammonia oxidation rate. We used continuous culture methods to avoid potential confounding variables that can be as

SUBMITTER: Hurley SJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4948339 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature