Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Xiaotong Tang, B. David A. Naafs, Richard D. Pancost, Zhao Liu, Tongyu Fan, Yanhong Zheng
Summary: Unusual H-Shaped branched and isoprenoidal glycerol monoalkyl glycerol tetraethers (GMGTs, or H-GDGTs) have been found in peat, lake, and ocean sediments. Relationship between the abundance of H-GDGTs relative to regular GDGTs and temperature, however, has not been widely explored. Results from peat cores in northeastern China show that high relative abundances of H-brGDGTs are associated with high temperatures, while high relative abundances of H-isoGDGTs are generally associated with low temperatures. These findings are partly inconsistent with observations from a modern global peat database.
FRONTIERS IN EARTH SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Qing-Zeng Zhu, Marcus Elvert, Travis B. Meador, Kevin W. Becker, Verena B. Heuer, Kai-Uwe Hinrichs
Summary: Archaea play a crucial role in the global carbon cycle, with their lipids serving as important environmental indicators. This study found that the contributions of different sources to sedimentary lipids can be identified through isotopic analysis, highlighting the importance of in situ lipid production by sedimentary archaea. The significant differences in carbon isotopic values of BPcren and BP0 in samples near the Rhone River delta compared to a marine reference site suggest a substantial terrestrial soil contribution to these sediments, emphasizing the need for caution when using molecular proxies to determine riverine input.
GEOCHIMICA ET COSMOCHIMICA ACTA
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Charlotte L. Spencer-Jones, Erin L. McClymont, Nicole J. Bale, Ellen C. Hopmans, Stefan Schouten, Juliane Muller, E. Povl Abrahamsen, Claire Allen, Torsten Bickert, Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, Elaine Mawbey, Victoria Peck, Aleksandra Svalova, James A. Smith
Summary: The West Antarctic Ice Sheet is a significant potential source of future sea-level rise, with glaciers thinning at an accelerating rate. Studies show that archaeal lipid-based proxies can be used to reconstruct ocean temperature, but there are difficulties in applying these proxies in the Southern Ocean. A greater understanding of the parameters influencing Southern Ocean GDGT distributions would improve the application of biomarker proxies and give a longer-term perspective on Antarctic ice sheet changes.
Article
Ecology
Edgart Flores, Sebastian Cantarero, Paula Ruiz-Fernandez, Nadia Dildar, Matthias Zabel, Osvaldo Ulloa, Julio Sepulveda
Summary: Elevated organic matter concentrations are found in hadal surface sediments, but the origin of this material remains unclear. By analyzing the composition and distribution of cellular membrane intact polar lipids (IPLs) extracted from the sediments of the Atacama Trench, it was found that IPLs in hadal sediments mainly derive from in situ microbial production and biomass. They also discovered lipid characteristics that resemble physiological adaptation to high pressure and low temperature.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Linda M. Westermann, Ian D. E. A. Lidbury, Chun-Yang Li, Ning Wang, Andrew R. J. Murphy, Maria del Mar Aguilo Ferretjans, Mussa Quareshy, Muralidharan Shanmugan, Alberto Torcello-Requena, Eleonora Silvano, Yu-Zhong Zhang, Claudia A. Blindauer, Yin Chen, David J. Scanlan
Summary: In marine systems, the degradation of phospholipids, such as phosphocholine and phosphorylethanolamine, is essential for the biogeochemical cycling of phosphorus, nitrogen, and carbon. Transporters for ethanolamine and choline are common and abundant in the global ocean, indicating the significance of phospholipid catabolism in situ. This study provides genetic and biochemical evidence for the complete catabolic pathways of phospholipids in marine bacteria, highlighting their role in primary production and nutrient utilization.
Article
Geography, Physical
William C. Daniels, Isla S. Castaneda, Jeffrey M. Salacup, M. Helen Habicht, Kurt R. Lindberg, Julie Brigham-Grette
Summary: This study analyzed iGDGTs in sediments of Lake El'gygytgyn in the Russian Arctic to reconstruct paleoenvironmental conditions from the Pliocene to today. The study revealed a long-term warming trend based on TEX86-inferred temperature history, along with significant community shifts driven by the establishment of permafrost and perennial lake ice during the early Pleistocene.
JOURNAL OF QUATERNARY SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Jiantao Cao, Ergang Lian, Shouye Yang, Huangmin Ge, Xiaobo Jin, Juan He, Guodong Jia
Summary: This study investigates the potential of microbial branched tetraether lipids (brGDGTs) as proxies for seawater pH in the Yangtze River Estuary and the East China Sea. The results show that these lipids can be used to trace changes in seawater pH in marine environments, and two pH calibrations specific to brackish seawater are established.
Article
Ecology
Jonatha H. Raberg, David J. Harning, Sarah E. Crump, Greg de Wet, Aria Blumm, Sebastian Kopf, Aslaug Geirsdottir, Gifford H. Miller, Julio Sepulveda
Summary: The use of brGDGT distributions in lake sediments for reconstructing terrestrial paleotemperatures is important, but the microbial producers of these membrane lipids remain unknown. Through new high-latitude lake sites and analysis methods, researchers have successfully deciphered the control of temperature, conductivity, and pH on brGDGT, revealed new distribution patterns, and provided a method for exploring the biological underpinnings of their structural diversity.
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Jeremy N. Bentley, G. Todd Ventura, Connor J. Dalzell, Clifford C. Walters, Carl A. Peters, Anthony S. Mennito, Robert K. Nelson, Christopher M. Reddy, Jeffrey S. Seewald, Stefan M. Sievert
Summary: Archaea, one of the earliest evolved organisms, have highly recalcitrant membrane lipids that are abundant in modern sediments but almost entirely absent in ancient rock records. A comprehensive study of archaeal lipids from a hydrothermal vent complex in Guaymas Basin revealed that the lipids mainly derive from methane-oxidizing archaea and anaerobic thermophilic methanogens. The preservation of archaeal lipids differs from other biomarkers, with a significant reduction in lipid content over time.
ORGANIC GEOCHEMISTRY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Thorsten Bauersachs, James M. Russell, Thomas W. Evans, Antje Schwalb, Lorenz Schwark
Summary: Understanding Earth's response to climate forcing is important for predicting future climate change. Using heterocyte glycolipids (HGs) to reconstruct continental climates can help quantify past continental climate change.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Microbiology
Kaitlin R. Rempfert, Emily A. Kraus, Daniel B. Nothaft, Nadia Dildar, John R. Spear, Julio Sepulveda, Alexis S. Templeton
Summary: The production of hydrogen and reduced carbon compounds during serpentinization provides continuous energy for microorganisms. However, the geochemical conditions that arise from water-rock reaction challenge the limits of microbial physiology. Cell membrane lipids play a vital role in microbial acclimation to these challenging conditions.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Yukun Zheng, Hongyan Liu, Huan Yang, Hongya Wang, Wenjie Zhao, Zeyu Zhang, Miao Huang, Weihang Liu
Summary: Discrepancies among variations in global ice volume, cave stalagmite delta O-18, and rainfall reconstruction using cosmogenic Be-10 pose challenges to understanding the evolution of the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM). In this study, a 430-ka EASM mean annual precipitation record on the Chinese Loess Plateau was obtained using a deep learning neural network, which is in agreement with cave-derived delta O-18 data but differs from Be-10 precipitation reconstruction. This suggests that branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers, along with cave delta O-18, represent variations in EASM intensity and can extend the temporal scale of the EASM record.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Thomas W. Evans, Felix J. Elling, Yongli Li, Ann Pearson, Roger E. Summons
Summary: This study aims to improve the extraction efficiency of intact polar membrane lipids (IPLs) in archaea. By testing different solvent mixtures, mechanical rupture techniques, and chemical detergents/enzymatic lysis solutions, it was found that a monophasic solvent system containing a trichloroacetic acid buffer and freeze-thaw cycles significantly increased lipid yields. However, the extraction results of environmental samples varied.
ORGANIC GEOCHEMISTRY
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Addison Rice, Peter D. Nooteboom, Erik Sebille, Francien Peterse, Martin Ziegler, Appy Sluijs
Summary: This study examines the transport bias of lipid-biomarker-based SST proxies in the Mediterranean Sea and finds that lateral transport has a negligible impact on the uncertainties of the two commonly applied proxies.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Jaap S. Sinninghe Damste, W. Irene C. Rijpstra, Katharina J. Huber, Luciana Albuquerque, Conceicao Egas, Nicole J. Bale
Summary: The composition of core lipids and intact polar lipids (IPLs) in five Rubrobacter species was studied. Some species contained methylated fatty acids, while others contained cyclohexyl fatty acids not previously reported in this order. The presence of an operon encoding proteins for cyclohexane carboxylic acid CoA thioester production suggested recent acquisition of this biosynthetic pathway. All species had abundant 1-O-alkyl glycerol ether lipids, indicating the dominance of mixed ether/ester IPLs. The distribution of IPL head groups varied among species. The genomes of all species contained a putative operon for 1-O-alkyl glycerol phosphate synthesis.
SYSTEMATIC AND APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Esmee Geerken, Lennart de Nooijer, Takashi Toyofuku, Anne Roepert, Jack J. Middelburg, Michiel V. M. Kienhuis, Yukiko Nagai, Lubos Polerecky, Gert-Jan Reichart
Summary: The study investigates the precipitation rate of calcite in benthic foraminifera and finds that it is similar to the maximum reported rates for inorganic calcite precipitation. The results also suggest a conceptual model for foraminiferal calcification involving active ion transport and thermodynamics. Seawater transport may also play a role in the initial stages of calcification.
GEOCHIMICA ET COSMOCHIMICA ACTA
(2022)
Article
Geography, Physical
Iuliana Vasiliev, Marcel T. J. van der Meer, Marius Stoica, Wout Krijgsman, Gert-Jan Reichart, Sergei Lazarev, Geanina A. Butiseaca, Eva M. Niedermeyer, Elmira Aliyeva, Christian G. C. van Baak, Andreas Mulch
Summary: Landlocked basins like the Caspian Sea are highly sensitive to hydrological changes, especially when disconnected from the global ocean. Using compound-specific hydrogen isotope data, palaeohydrological and palaeoenvironmental changes in the region were reconstructed, showing a connection with the Arctic domain and the Black Sea during different geological stages.
PALAEOGEOGRAPHY PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY PALAEOECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Geography, Physical
Jaap S. Sinninghe Damste, Yuki Weber, Jakob Zopfi, Moritz F. Lehmann, Helge Niemann
Summary: Isoprenoidal glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether (isoGDGT) lipids are mainly derived from archaea in the water column of Lake Lugano, Switzerland. The concentration of isoGDGTs, particularly Crenarchaeol, is higher in deeper waters below the thermocline. The distribution of isoGDGTs in surface sediments indicates downward transport from the water between the thermocline and the anoxic hypolimnion. The composition of isoGDGTs in surface sediments of other (peri-)alpine lakes varies based on lake size.
QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS
(2022)
Article
Geography, Physical
Carina Hoorn, Tyler Kukla, Giovanni Bogota-Angel, Els van Soelen, Catalina Gonzalez-Arango, Frank P. Wesselingh, Hubert Vonhof, Pedro Val, Gaspar Morcote-Rios, Martin Roddaz, Elton Luiz Dantas, Roberto Ventura Santos, Jaap S. Sinninghe Damste, Jung-Hyun Kim, Robert J. Morley
Summary: During the Miocene period, a large wetland system existed in western Amazonia that had unique sedimentary features and biological communities. The study conducted in Los Chorros site in Colombia revealed a sequence of flood-fill packages with distinct lithological, palynological, malacological and geochemical characteristics that reflect the changing environmental conditions in the wetland. Analysis of sediment sources and biomes indicate the influence of dynamic topography, Andean uplift, eustasy, and orbital forcing on sediment deposition and wetland evolution during the Miocene.
GLOBAL AND PLANETARY CHANGE
(2022)
Correction
Microbiology
Svetlana E. Belova, Nikolai V. Ravin, Timofey A. Pankratov, Andrey L. Rakitin, Anastasia A. Ivanova, Alexey V. Beletsky, Andrey V. Mardanov, Jaap S. Sinninghe Damste, Svetlana N. Dedysh
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Microbiology
Irene Sanchez-Andrea, Charlotte M. van der Graaf, Bastian Hornung, Nicole J. Bale, Monika Jarzembowska, Diana Z. Sousa, W. Irene C. Rijpstra, Jaap S. Sinninghe Damste, Alfons J. M. Stams
Summary: In acid drainage environments, moderately acidophilic sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) play a crucial role in attenuating extreme conditions by precipitating metals as sulfides and neutralizing acidity. A new species of moderately acidophilic SRB, Acididesulfobacillus acetoxydans gen. nov. sp. nov. strain INE, is identified with the ability to grow at pH 3.8. Bioreactor studies reveal that strain INE alkalinizes its environment, especially at lower pH, and has the ability to completely oxidize organic acids to CO2. Comparative proteogenomic and membrane lipid analysis suggest that the presence of saturated ether-bound lipids in the membrane serves as a protection mechanism against acid stress.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Hung-An Tian, Mathijs van Manen, Flora Wille, Jinyoung Jung, SangHoon Lee, Tae-Wan Kim, Shigeru Aoki, Charlotte Eich, Corina P. D. Brussaard, Gert-Jan Reichart, Tim M. Conway, Rob Middag
Summary: This study presents the first combined dataset of dissolved and particulate zinc (Zn) and cadmium (Cd) in the Amundsen Sea (AS), providing insights into their sources and biogeochemical processes. The Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) is identified as the main source for both elements, while aerosol deposition, ice shelf melt, and sea ice melt are considered insignificant sources. Biological uptake is the dominant process for the cycling of Zn and Cd, while sediment resuspension and ice shelf melt contribute little to particulate Zn and Cd. The findings have implications for the larger-scale cycling of trace metals in the Southern Ocean.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Sabine Haalboom, Henko C. de Stigter, Christian Mohn, Thomas Vandorpe, Marck Smit, Laurens de Jonge, Gert-Jan Reichart
Summary: This study presents different experimental designs for monitoring sediment plumes produced by deep-sea mining. Two field tests were conducted in a shallow setting offshore southern Spain using the Apollo II mining vehicle. The tests provided valuable insights for monitoring nodule mining in the deep Pacific. The plume of suspended sediment was monitored using turbidity sensors deployed on a ship-operated CTD system and on a static array of moored sensors, as well as visually with a ship-operated ROV. The results showed the distribution and behavior of the sediment plume and provided recommendations for monitoring in deep-sea conditions.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Robin van der Ploeg, Margot J. Cramwinckel, Ilja J. Kocken, Thomas J. Leutert, Steven M. Bohaty, Chris D. Fokkema, Pincelli M. Hull, A. Nele Meckler, Jack J. Middelburg, Inigo A. Muller, Donald E. Penman, Francien Peterse, Gert-Jan Reichart, Philip F. Sexton, Maximilian Vahlenkamp, David De Vleeschouwer, Paul A. Wilson, Martin Ziegler, Appy Sluijs
Summary: The Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum (MECO) experienced a transient warming of 3 degrees Celsius, leading to increased salinity in the North Atlantic subtropical gyre and potentially a poleward expansion of its northern boundary.
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Anandi Tamby, Jaap Sinninghe S. Damste, Laura Villanueva
Summary: The deep-sea environment is characterized by extreme conditions, including high hydrostatic pressure and near-freezing temperature. Piezophiles, microorganisms adapted to high pressure, have developed specific membrane lipid strategies to withstand these conditions, such as increased abundance of lipids containing unsaturated and branched-chain fatty acids with increasing hydrostatic pressure. However, not all piezophiles employ this strategy, highlighting the need for further understanding of the effects of hydrostatic pressure on microbial lipid membranes.
FRONTIERS IN MOLECULAR BIOSCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
M. Mojtahid, P. Depuydt, A. Mouret, S. Le Houedec, S. Fiorini, S. Chollet, F. Massol, F. Dohou, H. L. Filipsson, W. Boer, G. -J. Reichart, C. Barras
Summary: Insights into past marine carbon cycling and water mass properties can be obtained by geochemical proxies calibrated through controlled laboratory experiments. In this study, the use of strontium/calcium ratio (Sr/Ca) of foraminifera shells as a potential seawater C-system proxy was explored. The results showed species-specific sensitivity of Sr/Ca to alkalinity, dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and bicarbonate ion concentration ([HCO3-]).
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Margriet L. Lantink, Wytze K. Lenstra, Joshua H. F. L. Davies, Rick Hennekam, David McB. Martin, Paul R. D. Mason, Gert-Jan Reichart, Caroline P. Slomp, Frederik J. Hilgen
Summary: A detailed study of the ca. 2.46 billion-year-old Joffre Member of the Brockman Iron Formation in NW Australia reveals evidence of long-term climate variations possibly caused by changes in monsoonal intensity. The study suggests that the atmospheric oxygen content on Earth varied during this period, around 2.46 billion years ago, in response to Milankovitch cycles.
EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCE LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Danica Mitrovic, Ellen C. Hopmans, Nicole J. Bale, Nora Richter, Linda A. Amaral-Zettler, Allix J. Baxter, Francien Peterse, Pedro Miguel Raposeiro, Vitor Goncalves, Ana Cristina Costa, Stefan Schouten
Summary: Membrane-spanning archaeal lipids were examined in sediment samples from various lacustrine environments using UHPLC-HRMS. Regular isoprenoidal GDGTs and GDDs were found to be the most abundant membrane-spanning lipids in all samples.
ORGANIC GEOCHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Niels J. J. de Winter, Sterre van Sikkeleras, Barbara Goudsmit-Harzevoort, Wim Boer, Lennart de Nooijer, Gert-Jan Reichart, Philippe Claeys, Rob Witbaard
Summary: Growth experiments are important for studying the effect of environmental factors on biogenic calcifiers. This study investigates the use of strontium labeling in mollusc growth experiments and finds that high doses of dissolved strontium can create reproducible peaks in shell-incorporated strontium. Accurate reconstructions of growth rates require frequent spiking with high doses of strontium.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Carolien M. H. van der Weijst, Josse Winkelhorst, Wesley de Nooijer, Anna von der Heydt, Gert-Jan Reichart, Francesca Sangiorgi, Appy Sluijs
Summary: This study analyzes the late Pliocene records from the Eastern Equatorial Atlantic (EEA) and finds that the thermocline changes in the tropical Atlantic differ from the Pacific. This challenges the hypothesized link between tropical thermocline depth and global climate. The mechanisms behind these differences remain speculative and may be related to basin geometry and temperature evolution in the source regions of thermocline waters.
CLIMATE OF THE PAST
(2022)