Polar lipid pattern determination is often used for the taxonomic classification of halophilic Archaea in addition to a genomic characterization. During the analysis of polar lipid extracts from the recently described haloarchaeon Natrononomonas moolapensis, an unknown glycolipid was detected. Fragmentation patterns observed from preliminary mass spectrometric analysis initially suggested the presence of a sulfo-hexosyl-phosphatidylglycerol. However, by NMR spectroscopy and enzymatic assays the existence of two isomeric molecules with different hexoses (1-(6-sulfo-d-glcp/galf-β1,2-glycero)-phospho-2,3-diphytanylglycerol) could be shown. The structural origin from phosphatidylglycerol distinguishes these glycolipids within Archaea, because all other characterized haloarchaeal glycolipids consist of diphytanylglycerol directly linked to an oligoglycosyl moiety. Now the door is open to investigate the physical and functional consequences of these architectural differences of the head groups.
Keywords: Halophilic archaea; Mass; NMR; Natronomonas moolapensis strain 8.8.11(T); Phosphatidylglycerol; spectrometry.
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