What kind of linkages are found in the plasma membranes of Archaea?
Membrane lipid chemistry offers one of most reliable signatures differentiating Archaea from Bacteria and Eukarya. Bacterial and eukaryotic phospholipids consist of straight-chain or unsaturated fatty acids joined via ester bonds to sn-glycerol-3-phosphate, yielding bonds susceptible to hydrolysis at high temperature or extremes of pH. Archaeal lipids instead employ branched C20 phytanyl or C40 biphytanyl chains derived from isoprenoid biosynthesis, linked via ether bonds to sn-glycerol-1-phosphate, the enantiomer of bacterial backbone. Ether bonds are chemically resistant to cleavage by heat,
Ref: Koga & Morii, Microbiol Mol Biol Rev 2007, Archaeal Ether Lipids; Caforio & Driessen, BBA 2017, Membrane Engineering.
