Planktonic Euryarchaeota are a significant source of archaeal tetraether lipids in the ocean
Abstract
All three domains of life—Eukarya, Bacteria, and Archaea—are known to inhabit the marine water column from surface waters to great depth. Planktonic marine Archaea are comprised of two dominant groups—the Thaumarchaeaota and Euryarchaeota. The Thaumarchaeota contain characteristic biomarker lipids known as tetraethers that are thought to be diagnostic for this group, and are used as paleotemperature proxies, since these lipids are well preserved in marine sediments. In this study, we show that planktonic Euryarchaeota produce the same types of archaeal tetraether lipids as do Thaumarchaeaota. Our results have important implications for environmental surveys of marine Archaea, and the use of their lipids for interpretation of the sedimentary record.
- Publication:
-
Proceedings of the National Academy of Science
- Pub Date:
- July 2014
- DOI:
- 10.1073/pnas.1409439111
- Bibcode:
- 2014PNAS..111.9858L