Amino acid-containing membrane lipids in bacteria.

In the bacterial model organism Escherichia coli only the three major membrane lipids phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, and cardiolipin occur, all of which belong to the glycerophospholipids. The amino acid-containing phosphatidylserine is a major lipid in eukaryotic membranes but in most bacteria it occurs only as a minor biosynthetic intermediate. In some bacteria, the anionic glycerophospholipids phosphatidylglycerol and cardiolipin can be decorated with aminoacyl residues. For example, phosphatidylglycerol can be decorated with lysine, alanine, or arginine whereas in the case of cardiolipin, lysine or d-alanine modifications are known. In few bacteria, diacylglycerol-derived lipids can be substituted with lysine or homoserine. Acyl-oxyacyl lipids in which the lipidic part is amide-linked to the alpha-amino group of an amino acid are widely distributed among bacteria and ornithine-containing lipids are the most common version of this lipid type. Only few bacterial groups form glycine-containing lipids, serineglycine-containing lipids, sphingolipids, or sulfonolipids. Although many of these amino acid-containing bacterial membrane lipids are produced in response to certain stress conditions, little is known about the specific molecular functions of these lipids.

Horizontal gene transfer of an entire metabolic pathway between a eukaryotic alga and its DNA virus.

Interactions between viruses and phytoplankton, the main primary producers in the oceans, affect global biogeochemical cycles and climate. Recent studies are increasingly revealing possible cases of gene transfers between cyanobacteria and phages, which might have played significant roles in the evolution of cyanobacteria/phage systems. However, little has been documented about the occurrence of horizontal gene transfer in eukaryotic phytoplankton/virus systems. Here we report phylogenetic evidence for the transfer of seven genes involved in the sphingolipid biosynthesis pathway between the cosmopolitan eukaryotic microalga Emiliania huxleyi and its large DNA virus EhV. PCR assays indicate that these genes are prevalent in E. huxleyi and EhV strains isolated from different geographic locations. Patterns of protein and gene sequence conservation support that these genes are functional in both E. huxleyi and EhV. This is the first clear case of horizontal gene transfer of multiple functionally linked enzymes in a eukaryotic phytoplankton-virus system. We examine arguments for the possible direction of the gene transfer. The virus-to-host direction suggests the existence of ancient viruses that controlled the complex metabolic pathway in order to infect primitive eukaryotic cells. In contrast, the host-to-virus direction suggests that the serial acquisition of genes involved in the same metabolic pathway might have been a strategy for the ancestor of EhVs to stay ahead of their closest relatives in the great evolutionary race for survival.