Which of the following organisms has a tetraether monolayer membrane?
Among prokaryotes, membrane-spanning tetraether lipids represent adaptation to extreme temperature and acidity not found in mesophilic bacteria like Escherichia coli, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, or Bacillus subtilis that maintain bilayer of diester or diether lipids. Sulfolobus acidocaldarius, an aerobic thermoacidophile isolated from solfataric hot springs growing optimally at 80 degrees Celsius and pH 2 to 3, synthesizes predominantly glycerol dibiphytanyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs) composed of two C40 isoprenoid chains linking two glycerol moieties via ether bonds, creating monolayer memb
Ref: Konings et al., Trends Microbiol 2002, Tetraether Membranes; Villanueva et al., Nature Rev Microbiol 2014, Archaeal Lipids.
