Identification of a protein responsible for the synthesis of archaeal membrane-spanning GDGT lipids

Zhirui Zeng (), Huahui Chen, Huan Yang, Yufei Chen, Wei Yang, Xi Feng, Hongye Pei and Paula V. Welander ()
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Zhirui Zeng: Southern University of Science and Technology
Huahui Chen: Southern University of Science and Technology
Huan Yang: China University of Geosciences
Yufei Chen: Southern University of Science and Technology
Wei Yang: Southern University of Science and Technology
Xi Feng: Southern University of Science and Technology
Hongye Pei: China University of Geosciences
Paula V. Welander: Stanford University

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Glycerol dibiphytanyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs) are archaeal monolayer membrane lipids that can provide a competitive advantage in extreme environments. Here, we identify a radical SAM protein, tetraether synthase (Tes), that participates in the synthesis of GDGTs. Attempts to generate a tes-deleted mutant in Sulfolobus acidocaldarius were unsuccessful, suggesting that the gene is essential in this organism. Heterologous expression of tes homologues leads to production of GDGT and structurally related lipids in the methanogen Methanococcus maripaludis (which otherwise does not synthesize GDGTs and lacks a tes homolog, but produces a putative GDGT precursor, archaeol). Tes homologues are encoded in the genomes of many archaea, as well as in some bacteria, in which they might be involved in the synthesis of bacterial branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-29264-x

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