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Intact Membrane Lipids of "Candidatus Nitrosopumilus maritimus," a Cultivated Representative of the Cosmopolitan Mesophilic Group I Crenarchaeota

Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Department of Marine Organic Biogeochemistry, P.O. Box 59, 1790 AB Den Burg, Texel, The Netherlands,¹ Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment (ICBM), Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, P.O. Box 2503, 26111 Oldenburg, Germany,² Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, 301 More Hall, Box 352700, Seattle, Washington 98195-2700³

Received 25 July 2007/ Accepted 13 February 2008

In this study we analyzed the membrane lipid composition of "Candidatus Nitrosopumilus maritimus," the only cultivated representative of the cosmopolitan group I crenarchaeota and the only mesophilic isolate of the phylum Crenarchaeota. The core lipids of "Ca. Nitrosopumilus maritimus" consisted of glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs) with zero to four cyclopentyl moieties. Crenarchaeol, a unique GDGT containing a cyclohexyl moiety in addition to four cyclopentyl moieties, was the most abundant GDGT. This confirms unambiguously that crenarchaeol is synthesized by species belonging to the group I.1a crenarchaeota. Intact polar lipid analysis revealed that the GDGTs have hexose, dihexose, and/or phosphohexose head groups. Similar polar lipids were previously found in deeply buried sediments from the Peru margin, suggesting that they were in part synthesized by group I crenarchaeota.

Published ahead of print on 22 February 2008.