BIPHYTANES AS BIOMARKERS FOR SPONGE-ASSOCIATED ARCHAEA

Authors

  • WALTER MICHAELIS

Abstract

Various sponges of the classes Hexactinellida and Demospongiae were studied for the presence of archaeal biomarkers. In several species four ether-bound isoprenoids of the biphytane series (C40), which are known as abundant lipid constituents of Archaea, were detected. The lack of these biomarkers in some sponges implies that a prominent influence of dietary plankton can be excluded, and gives evidence that associations of Archaea and specific sponge taxa are more common than previously thought. The highest concentrations of biphytanes were found in the hexactinellid Aulosaccus cf. mitsukuri and the demosponge Phakellia ventilabrum. The distributions of the biphytanes imply that these compounds are of crenarchaeotal and euryarchaeotal origin.

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Published

2018-05-23