-
oa Unlocking the Mistery of the Hidden Producers of Branched GDGTS
- Publisher: European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers
- Source: Conference Proceedings, IMOG 2025, Sep 2025, Volume 2025, p.1 - 2
Abstract
Branched GDGTs are membrane spanning lipids formed by alkyl chains linked through ether bonds to the glycerol backbone, which have been widely used as part of paleoenvironmental proxies. Nevertheless, the exact biological source of these lipids is not fully constrained, which limits the interpretation of these molecules as paleoenvironmental proxies, and of their physiological advantage for bacterial cells.
Here, we show for the first time the presence of branched GDGTs and their intermediates in bacterial phyla outside of the Acidobacteria. We have performed genomic analysis to determine the occurrence and spread of the capacity to make brGDGTs among Bacteria through evolution as well as analyzing the factors influencing its production. This information will be key for better interpretations of the paleoenvironmental value of these lipid biomarkers.
