Journal
JOURNAL OF EUKARYOTIC MICROBIOLOGY
Volume 64, Issue 6, Pages 897-900Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1111/jeu.12426
Keywords
Anaerobic; gas chromatography/mass spectrometry; oxidosqualene cyclase; phylogeny; squalene-tetrahymanol cyclase; tetrahymanol
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Funding
- Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science [15K07176, 15H05231]
- Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research [15H05231, 15K07176] Funding Source: KAKEN
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It is widely held that sterols are key cyclic triterpenoid lipids in eukaryotic cell membranes and are synthesized through oxygen-dependent multienzyme pathways. However, there are known exceptions-ciliated protozoans, such as Tetrahymena, along with diverse low-oxygen-adapted eukaryotes produce, instead of sterols, the cyclic triterpenoid lipid tetrahymanol that does not require molecular oxygen for its biosynthesis. Here, we report that a number of anaerobic microbial eukaryotes (protists) utilize neither sterols nor tetrahymanol in their membranes. The lack of detectable sterol-like compounds in their membranes may provide an opportunity to reconsider the physiological function of sterols and sterol-like lipids in eukaryotes.
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