Open AccessCharacterisation of Archaea in Soils by Polar Lipid Analysis
Author(s) -
Gattinger A.,
Günthner A.,
Schloter M.,
Munch J.C.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
acta biotechnologica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1521-3846
pISSN - 0138-4988
DOI - 10.1002/abio.200390003
Subject(s) - archaea , crenarchaeota , terpenoid , thermophile , bacteria , phospholipid , ether , biology , psychrophile , biochemistry , chemistry , botany , organic chemistry , genetics , membrane
While phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) profiling is a well‐established method used for the determination of bacterial and eukaryotic organisms in soil ecology, phospholipid etherlipid (PLEL) analyses for the characterisation of Archaea is a rather new approach. Analyses of PLEL derived isoprenoid side chains by GC/MS provided a broad picture of the archaeal community in a mixed soil extract, as lipids previously identified in isolates belonging to the kingdoms Eury‐ and Crenarchaeota were covered. Furthermore, ether‐linked isoprenoid hydrocarbons, which have not been detected in archaeal isolates and monomethyl‐branched alkanes which have only been found in hyperthermophilic bacteria, were detected in these soil extracts. Monomethyl‐branched alkanes were the most dominant ones and accounted for 43.4% of the total identified ether‐linked hydrocarbons, followed by straight chain (unbranched) and isoprenoid hydrocarbons, which accounted for 34.6 and 15.5%, respectively.