Lipid structures in the Caldariella group of extreme thermoacidophile bacteria

Abstract

The major lipids of thermoacidophile bacteria of the Caldariella series are based on macrocyclic tetraethers comprising two C₄₀ω,ω′-biphytanyl residues, with up to four cyclopentane rings, and either two glycerols or one glycerol and one branched-chain nonitol; in the corresponding complex lipids, polar residues are attached either to the nonitol or to one of the two glycerols.