Influence of nutrient availability on Arctic sea ice diatom HBI lipid synthesis

Diatom highly branched isoprenoid (HBI) lipids have proven extremely useful as environmental proxies. This study is the first to target the influence of nutrient limitation on HBI synthesis and to present data on the variable biosynthesis of HBIs in sea ice diatoms. In doing so, we show that the cellular abundance of HBIs can vary, by orders of magnitude, within the sea ice habitat; a topic not yet addressed in the literature, which could have far-reaching consequences on how variable HBI concentrations are interpreted in the wider environment. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.