We observed significant changes in the elemental and intact polar lipid (IPL) composition of the archaeon Thermococcus kodakarensis (KOD1) in response to growth stage and phosphorus supply. Reducing the amount of organic supplements and phosphate in growth media resulted in significant decreases in cell size and cellular quotas of carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P), which coincided with significant increases in cellular IPL quota and IPLs comprising multiple P atoms and hexose moieties. Relatively more cellular P was stored as IPLs in P-limited cells (2-8%) compared to control cells (<0.8%). We also identified a specific IPL biomarker containing a phosphatidyl-N-acetylhexoseamine headgroup that was relatively enriched during rapid cell division. These observations serve as empirical evidence of IPL adaptations in Archaea that will help to interpret the distribution of these biomarkers in natural systems. The reported cell quotas of C, N, and P represent the first such data for a specific archaeon and suggest that thermophiles are C-rich compared to the cell carbon-to-volume relationship reported for planktonic bacteria.

The T. kodakarensis cells were a specific strain grown in a fermenter at the University of Regensburg. Abbreviations as follows: PA-AR = phosphatidic acid archaeol; PG-AR = phosphatidyl glycerol archaeol; 2G-AR = diglycosidic archaeol; PE-AR = phosphatidyl ethanolamine archaeol; P-HexNAc-AR = phosphatidyl N-acetylhexoseamine archaeol; 68+Hex(NH2)-PI-AR = 68 (Da) + hexoseamine + phosphatidyl inositol archaeol; PS-AR = phosphatidyl serine archaeol; PI-AR = phosphatidyl inositol archaeol; Hex(NH2)-PI-AR = hexoseamine + phosphatidyl inositol archaeol; Hex-PI-AR = hexose + phosphatidyl inositol archaeol; PI-Hex(NH2)-PI-AR = hexoseamine + diphosphatidyl inositol archaeol; PG-GDGT = phosphatidyl glycerol glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether; 2G-GDGT = diglycosidic glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether; 2G-Me-GDGT = diglycosidic methylated glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether; 2G-2Me-GDGT = diglycosidic dimethylated glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether; PI-GDGT = phosphatidyl inositol glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether; Hex(NH2)-PI-GDGT = hexoseamine + phosphatidyl inositol glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether; Hex-PI-GDGT-PI = hexose + diphosphatidyl inositol glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether; Hex(NH2)-PI-GDGT-PI = hexoseamine + diphosphatidyl inositol glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether; PI-GDGT-PI = diphosphatidyl inositol glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether

Supplement to: Meador, Travis B; Gagen, Emma; Loscar, Michael E; Goldhammer, Tobias; Yoshinaga, Marcos Yukio; Wendt, Jenny; Thomm, Michael; Hinrichs, Kai-Uwe (2014): Thermococcus kodakarensis modulates its polar membrane lipids and elemental composition according to growth stage and phosphate availability. Frontiers in Microbiology, 5, 1-13