Identification of the Bacteriochlorophylls, Carotenoids, Quinones, Lipids, and Hopanoids of Candidatus Chloracidobacterium thermophilum

Candidatus Chloracidobacterium thermophilum is a recently discovered chlorophototroph from the bacterial phylum Acidobacteria, which synthesizes bacteriochlorophyll (BChl) c and chlorosomes like members of the green sulfur bacteria (GSB) and the green filamentous anoxygenic phototrophs (FAPs). The pigments (BChl c homologs and carotenoids), quinones, lipids, and hopanoids of cells and chlorosomes of this new chlorophototroph were characterized in this study. Ca. Chloracidobacterium thermophilum methylates its antenna BChls at the C-8(2) and C-12(1) positions like GSB, but these BChls were esterified with a variety of isoprenoid and straight-chain alkyl alcohols as in FAPs. Unlike the chlorosomes of other green bacteria, Ca. Chloracidobacterium thermophilum chlorosomes contained two major xanthophyll carotenoids, echinenone and canthaxanthin. These carotenoids may confer enhanced protection against reactive oxygen species and could represent a specific adaptation to the highly oxic natural environment in which Ca. Chloracidobacterium thermophilum occurs. Dihydrogenated menaquinone-8 [menaguinone-8(H-2)], which probably acts as a quencher of energy transfer under oxic conditions, was an abundant component of both cells and chlorosomes of Ca. Chloracidobacterium thermophilum. The betaine lipid diacylglycerylhydroxymethyl-N,N,N-trimethyl-beta-alanine, esterified with 13-methyl-tetradecanoic (isopentadecanoic) acid, was a prominent polar lipid in the membranes of both Ca. Chloracidobacterium thermophilum cells and chlorosomes. This lipid may represent a specific adaptive response to chronic phosphorus limitation in the mats. Finally, three hopanoids, diploptene, bacteriohopanetetrol, and bacteriohopanetetrol cyclitol ether, which may help to stabilize membranes during diel shifts in pH and other physicochemical conditions in the mats, were detected in the membranes of Ca. Chloracidobacterium thermophilum.